Books Heated Rivalry SFF Reading Recommendations for the Characters of Heated Rivalry We’ve got romantasies, queer fairy tales, feminist adventures, and more! By Alex Brown | Published on February 3, 2026 Image courtesy of HBO Max/Crave Comment 0 Share New Share Image courtesy of HBO Max/Crave You can tell what shows I’m obsessed with when I start thinking about book recommendations. Midway through my third re-watch of Heated Rivalry, a reading list began forming in the back of my mind. Consider this book list as me putting on my librarian hat, stretching out my reader’s advisory skills, and sitting down with the characters who have been living rent free in my brain since November 28, 2025. If these people walked into my library today and asked me what they should check out, these are the science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles I’d hand them. Shane Hollander should read… Photo credit: HBO Max Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee Shane has a lot on his plate. He’s secretly gay in a notoriously homophobic environment. He’s biracial Japanese and white in a predominately white country and in a predominately white sport. He’s undiagnosed neurodivergent and masking all the time. He manages a ton of expectations from all corners, including those of his adorable yet prickly boyfriend. The show—and, to a greater extent, the book—doesn’t do as much as it could with his racial background, so I want to give him something with an Asian main character (Japanese Canadians are unfortunately few and far between in speculative fiction). I want to give him a story that covers familial pressure, overachiever burnout, and choosing your own path. And I want to give him something cozy and with an HEA so he has something calming and joyfully queer. Hence this young adult fantasy romance. Brenda and Kat live in alternate versions of Los Angeles, one with magic and one without. A chance encounter leads to a new relationship, not to mention dragon-sized cats, a life-threatening prophecy, and college apps.  Ilya Rozanov should read… Photo credit: HBO Max The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch I think some folks would be tempted to give Ilya something tough or action-packed, but we all know Ilya is a secret cinnamon roll. He keeps his sweetness under wraps, but when he pulls himself up out of the water and begs Shane for a kiss, yeah, this is a guy who would totally read a romance novel. He probably wouldn’t tell anyone about it, and Shane would find lying around his house and assume it was something Svetlana left behind, but all the pages with sex scenes would be dogeared. The other reason I want to give this to Ilya is because, well, it’s about rivalry. Sebastian and Thio are grad students at a magical university forced to work together on a project. They initially seem to hate each other, but heat simmers under all that tension. Like Ilya, both main characters grapple with troubled relationships with their parents. Familial expectations set off ripple effects that push Thio and Sebastian together and pull them apart. It’s also fun and sexy enough to balance out the emotions I think this will trigger in him. Scott Hunter should read… Photo credit: HBO Max Dead & Breakfast by Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor Scott needs a book that will keep his attention but also not be overly serious or too intense. Despite his grand and very public gesture in episode 5, his story isn’t really about coming out. Rather, it’s about living the life he deserves. He wants to have hockey and Kip, not one or the other, and figuring out if and how to do that is what drives his storyline. (It also directly influences Ilya and Shane’s story; they don’t go to the cottage without Scott making his move first.) Scott should get a book where he can see two queer men in love and living the life they want together, open and happy and free. Thor and Hillis’ love interests are married couple Arthur and Sal. They run a failing B&B in a small Oregon town… and they’re also vampires. When a body turns up in their front yard, the men must untangle the mystery before anyone else dies. Dead & Breakfast isn’t free of bigotry, but readers also know this is a cozy fantasy rooted in kindness and compassion. Whatever else is threatening Arthur and Sal, we know their relationship is strong enough to last. That’s something Scott needs to hear. Kip Grady should read… Photo credit: HBO Max The Story of the Hundred Promises by Neil Cochrane I don’t want to give Kip anything too sugary. He seems like the kind of guy who would be interested in something thoughtful and exploratory. The Story of the Hundred Promises is, on the surface, a trans retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Darragh, a trans sailor, sets out to find the missing enchanter. Years ago, the mage helped him transition, and how Darragh wants em to help his ailing father. Darragh’s quest would resonate with Kip, not for the details of it but the overarching themes of not letting anything stop him from being his true self and giving space for those who cause harm to put in the restitution work. Kip is out and proud, he has family and friends who support him no matter what, and goals for the future. He knows what he wants and is willing to put in the work to get it. I also think he’d dig Cochrane’s beautiful narrative style and the quiet romance. I’m sure he’s never read anything like this before. Rose Landry should read… Photo credit: HBO Max Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi  This adult romantasy is fun, wild, and sexy. Galilee Kincaid gets caught up in a tug-of-war between angels of Heaven and demons of Hell. Her adventures pull her into the bed of Lucifer, but he’s not the only fallen man who desires her. In order to explain this rec, I have to spoil the story a bit. If you like love triangles where instead of choosing between two men, the woman decides “Why not both?” then this is for you. I don’t think Rose would actually want to be in the middle of a Hollanov sandwich—and Shane and Ilya definitely don’t want that either—but I think she’d get a kick out of the rec. It’s got enough sharp edges to hook her in and enough heat to keep her entertained. She’s a woman who knows what she wants and is growing in power. She’d enjoy reading a story about a woman who comes into her strength while also getting the romance of a lifetime. Svetlana should read… Photo credit: HBO Max The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar The River Has Roots is a gorgeous, lyrical book that tells the story of two sisters, one who is murdered and the other who tries to save her. I think Svetlana would resonate with Esther and Ysabel’s feminist adventures and battles with the patriarchy. Svetlana comes from a hockey background and is also a biracial Black Russian woman. She’s had to fight for her place in male-dominated worlds more than Ilya realizes. The magical beings they encounter as the story unfolds offer both hope and retribution. It’s not men who save the day but the sisters. They find power in telling their own stories instead of letting others dictate it for them. Hayden Pike should read… Photo credit: HBO Max The Others by Jared Poon Hayden is a guy who could use more fun in his life. At home, he’s all dad all the time. At work, he’s Mister Hockey Man. In between that he seems to do little else but hang out in his hotel room and call Shane at inopportune moments. Fun is the name of the game in this Singaporean urban fantasy. There are magical beasties, scheming gods, and office shenanigans. Like hockey, working for DEUS is a team effort, something Ben Toh, our protagonist, learns the hard way. Hayden might be a secondary character in the TV show, but here he could see how everyone has a role to play. This is also the kind of book he could binge or pick up and put down, depending on the chaos level of his children. It’s a wild ride that starts with its foot on the gas and only accelerates from there. Elena Rygg should read… Photo credit: HBO Max Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan Now, I know Elena isn’t evil, but she is bold, strong-willed, and outspoken in a world that doesn’t usually appreciate that in women. In romance stories, women of color are often cast as the brazen, sassy sidekick to one of the love interests, usually a white person. In MM romance, it’s not uncommon for the woman sidekick to be saddled with a shitty man for a partner, in love with one of the men, or playing the part of the tragic harlot, innocent sister, or secret bigot. Her whole life revolves around one of both of the love interests. Elena, on the other hand, says “fuck you” to anyone trying to reduce her down to a sidekick. She has her own life and lives it to the fullest. Kip and Scott are a part of that life but not the whole of it. I’m giving her a book about a woman who is cast in a role she doesn’t expect and makes it her own. Rae may not have thought of herself as a villain, but she’s going to have so much fun with it. She and Elena are more than the roles they play. Maria should read… Photo credit: HBO Max Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri Maria is a hard cookie to rec for, largely because on the TV show she does end up mostly playing the part of Kip’s sidekick. We also don’t know that much about her. (Her role in the book is bigger, and I hope we’ll see more of that in season 2.) So, taking both the show and the book into consideration, I want to give her something dramatic, narratively compelling, romantic, and sprawling. Suri’s reimagining of British history and mythology would give her a lot to chew on. We don’t know Maria’s ethnic/racial background—in the book her last name is Villanueva, however, the actress who plays her, Bianca Nugara, is Sri Lankan—but as a woman of color in Canada she’s definitely experiencing the ripple effects of colonization. I’m sure she could relate to living in a country who tells stories to itself about its great and noble history while also ignoring the blood of the oppressed, exploited, and colonized soaking the pages of its history. Maria seems like she’d be obsessed with the timeless romance between Simran and Vina, the witch and the knight falling in love and dying in each other’s arms over and over again, and would text Kip cryptic comments about the book. Kyle Swift should read… Photo credit: HBO Max Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles Kyle is tricky to talk about because he’s barely in the first season but he has his own book in the series, Common Goal. We don’t have confirmation that the TV series will do his romance storyline, but it seems likely (why make him a character at all if he isn’t going to turn up again). Based on the TV version and where his journey takes him in the book, I think this historical fantasy romance is a good option. Saul is a disgraced soldier turned archeologist-for-hire. He meets Randolph, a powerful arcanist with a mysterious past. The shift in their relationship from attraction to desire to romance surprises both of them. Kyle’s interest in ancient art and architecture would pull him into this book. George Grady and Yuna and David Hollander should read… Photo credit: HBO Max The Changeling by Victor LaValle Parenting is hard. Like, really hard. Or so I hear. I want to give these parents a book about the horrors of parenting, because why not. The Changeling is about what happens when a relationship fractures. Emma believes her newborn isn’t human, and the aftermath of that rage leaves Apollo reeling. LaValle explores motherhood, fatherhood, and parenting, as well as colonization, race, and parental expectations. We only see George, Yuna, and David as parents in the TV show. We see them from the perspective of their sons, Kip and Shane, and their sons’ boyfriends, Scott and Ilya; we don’t see them as people in and of themselves. With this book they can explore parenting from the perspective of other parents. Showrunner Jacob Tierney should read… Reverie by Ryan La Sala Jacob, if you’re looking for your next adaptation, Ryan La Sala is a good bet. Any of his queer YA books would do—The Honeys and Beholder for surreal horror, The Dead of Summer for eco-horror with coral zombies, Be Dazzled for cosplay and coming out—but Reverie is the perfect blend of chaotic, intense, and moving that would work well with Tierney’s vibes. Kane’s memories have been altered to erase his friends, and the discovery of the person who is behind the spell upends his world. Reality bends and worlds burst in and out of existence, and at the center of the storm is Kane and his ex-friends. I’d love to see Tierney take on fantasy, especially how he would handle the scenes with the baddest drag queen in all of YA fantasy fiction.[end-mark] The post SFF Reading Recommendations for the Characters of <i>Heated Rivalry</i> appeared first on Reactor.