Inside Heated Rivalry: Author Rachel Reid Shares Show Gossip, Her Fav Books & More

(dramatic music) Wave. - The TV show He Did Rival Read based on the second book in the series became a global sensation. - Is there something you're really looking forward to seeing on screen in season two? - Oh yeah, there's like a wedding that's not like the wedding. - I was really hoping you were gonna say that. That's my favorite scene. - There's a really amazing scene in the book that I'm very much looking forward to. - I don't know, Conner's gonna have so much work to do. - Yeah. - So he's gotta, he's gotta buckle up. (upbeat music) - Welcome or welcome back to House of Mar, a Wave original. Practice your Russian and help yourself to whatever is in the fridge. The Wi-Fi password is come underscore two by the number two underscore the cottage all caps. (laughing) You should know we have few house rules here. Girls are magic. - Reading is hot and so are you. Make sure to like, subscribe on YouTube, watch while you're doing whatever you do about your day. - Yeah. - While you're getting about your day. - You're free. - Our fourth march of today is the undisputed queen of hockey romance. She's an author who has turned her lifelong love into the New York Times bestselling game changer series, which has sold over three and a half million copies and sparked a global phenomenon that has touched every sport and even the Olympics. The TV show He Did rivalry based on the second book in the series became a global sensation and melted our icy hearts. Her upcoming book Unrivaled releases June 1st next year, but its pre sale already created major buzz. Welcome to the family Rachel Reed. (cheering) - Very happy to be here. - Thanks so much for coming. This is so exciting. You're a person with us. - It's an honor. It's an honor to be here. It's beautiful house. - Beautiful house. - Beautiful house. I do want to kick us off with a story of mine. Well of my friends more like who's now my friend but had told me this story on one of the first times we'd really ever had a conversation. Things are going well. She's like, I don't have Instagram right now. I gave it up for Lent. I was like, oh good for you. And she's like, I got two obsessed with heated rivalry. And she doesn't really know me, giving me all this information. She told me she woke up every morning and would go to Twitter and go to like HudsonWilliamsupdates.com to all the updates.com. And it was ruling her life. She gave up all social media for 40 days and 49. - Thanks to you. - That's really smart though. - I'm sorry to do that but I'm glad she did that. - Yeah, her own well being. - Was that for Lent? - For Lent. - Wow. And that's a hard thing to give up. - For God. - She had to give up. - She had to be a rivalry. - She had to be a rivalry for God. - He did rivalry is now officially a Peabody Award winner. Congratulations. - Did you have to sacrifice this? - No, no. When I was writing these books at my dining room table like almost a decade ago, no. - Right. Right. - Did you get the call that it was at least nominated? - Nominated was, I feel like it was close to a month ago maybe. And then I found out that we'd won. I found it a little bit of an advance of when it was announced. But yeah, I think it was like maybe a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, something like that. - I'll drink to that tonight. - Amazing. - I wasn't gonna drink tonight but Tita Reveli is a Peabody Award winner. - I mean, yeah, it's hard to believe. I mean, it's not because the show's so good but it's still like anything based on anything that I wrote being a Peabody Award winner is a pretty crazy feeling. - Absolutely. - I feel like that's a drop in the bucket. There's had so much reach. We were in Milan for the Olympics and we saw some of the ice hockey games, all of this. And I'm pretty tuned in to the Heated Reveli that I was part of the soundtrack. The everything was always getting connected back is really wonderful. The reach it has, the Red Sox has even doing a Heated Reveli night. - Yes. - Are you gonna go to that? - Yes, I am. So it was like my whole family 'cause we were big Red Sox family. - Are you really? - I'm more, yes. - Yes. - Yes. - Look at the camera, yes. (laughing) - You're a sports fan though, so you love hockey too. - Yeah, hockey's my number one. I did grow up a Red Sox fan. I kind of been enjoying the Blue Jays lately too but I still have a place in my heart for the Red Sox so I'm excited. And I love fan way, it's just a great park. - Oh yeah. - So I'm excited to go there. I heard it's sold out or close to sold out. So, - Have you been to a game? - Already at Red Sox. - Yeah, I've been to a couple once when I was a kid and once with my kids, so. - Oh! - Yeah. - Oh yeah. - And now you say you love sports, obviously, big hockey fan, you just told us that your dad played rugby. - Yeah. - Right? - Yeah. - Do we have rugby romance potentially in the world? - Well, that would be, I mean, there are rugby romance. - There's a lot of rugby romance. - But not by you. - No, it's true. That would be a fun sport to write about it. - That would be. - Yeah. - That would be really good. Ooh, they're rucking in Mollin. - Hey, you got it. - Well, let's get on over to the group chat and see what's going on online and what's just happening while we're chatting. First off, do you have group chats? Do you have group chats with the friends? - Yeah, I've got a few group chats with friends. Yeah, some with people from the show, some with other authors, some with my long time besties. - Yeah, yeah. - Do you have a favorite one? (laughing) - Yeah, I mean, I think the one, I'm in a band and we still have a little chat with the four of us. - What'd you play? - I played keyboards. We all sang, but it was like, yeah, just four women and we're still all really good friends. So it's nice to still be chatting. - Were you guys writing your own music and everything? - Yeah, mostly. - Can we find it online? - Yeah, what's new? - What's new? (laughing) - We were a very fun live show. I don't know. Like I think our recordings are good, but the live experience was more than what we were known for, but we were called the stolen minks. It was a fun little. - A little bad. - A stolen minks. - Yeah. - I love the rock band. - Did the group chat pop off when he did a rivalry was going crazy? I cannot imagine what that was like with your girls in there and everybody would be like, "What's happening, Rachel?" I was obsessed. - Yeah, I think it was kind of like, when the show came out, I definitely found out which of my friends had not ever read my books. - Right. - Because they were like, I don't know if we can spoil the show. - You can spoil the show. - It's been out. - Yeah. But like when the kiss with Scott and Kip happened on the ice, like I had friends were like, "Oh my God, I wasn't expecting that." I was like, "That was the first book." - You didn't read my book. - You didn't expose yourself. - Wow. - That's so wild. - Yeah, no, I mean, I think all of my long time friends are just kind of baffled. But not baffled in a way that they don't think, like they love the show and everything, but it's just hard to believe that any of this is happening to me. - Absolutely. - To me, really. - I also don't think you could spoil anything on here. I feel like our audience firmly is heated rivalry fans. - Yeah, I don't know who's only on like the third episode right now. - Right, right. - That's so nice. - I just remember that it was so funny. In the span of one weekend, I had three different people telling me about this new show, was out heated rivalry. And the thing about me is I have trouble watching or reading like sports things. A lot of times, please. - A lot of times I'm like, "Oh my gosh, the team doctors with a player that, "yeah, that's wrong." So I loved your books were so good, but tell me, so you came out them 10 years ago. - Yeah, well I started one out. - The first one was out in 2018, but I'd started writing it in probably 2016. So yeah, we are talking about 10 years ago for the writing. - The writing portion. - And what drew you to writing about two male athletes? - It was really just an idea. I had about hockey, 'cause there's still hasn't been an NHL player ever. And so it was something I've been thinking about since the 90s, honestly, just because back then, it was really like, there was no way, like it was definitely no way that that would happen. But then I thought as we moved into the 2000s and 2010s, I was like, I thought by now, maybe there'd be somebody, but there's still, it still didn't seem like it was ever gonna happen. So it was just something I thought about a lot, what it might be like if you were a closet at NHL player. - Yeah. - And so it was just an idea I had that I wrote, I didn't think it would become a whole series, but like, yeah, then it did. - You're from Nova Scotia, so who was your team? - Montreal Canadians are my team, it's, yeah, I mean, Nova Scotia's kind of like, you can pick your own team, 'cause we're not really close to anywhere, but most people are either Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs or Boston Bruins. - Right, and you just knew the lore about all of them. - Yeah, I've just been obsessed with hockey since I was a little kid. - Was it, well, you said you'd have to play rugby, but was he also? - He played hockey as well, yeah. And yeah, Big Sports fan just generally, he'd also played baseball, he played all sorts of stuff, but yeah, Big Sports fan, so watching hockey was something we could do together. - Something. - And look what it's turned into. - Hey, yeah. - You were really the first one at those hockey games, 'cause there's like TikToks now, people like, "Okay, when did they kiss?" (laughing) - And that was you in the 90s, okay. - I love you. - It's time to just fun, but when did they kiss? - Big OG, waiting for it. - Did you base when you first started like this process and you sat down at your dining room table and you're like, "Hmm, I wonder what would happen, "where are you basing him on players?" - No, I don't like to do that. I think that there's types of players that are maybe like inspiring the characters, so there's really kind of stoic, kind of good boy captains that would be kind of like Scott Hunter or Shane Hollander, and then there's like the cocky European bad boy, which would be Ilya obviously, so just different types. - I've read all six books. - I read them a few times. - She's read them back in the day. - Before the show was even announced. - Oh, she is an O-free. - I actually was looking at my messages 'cause my friend was the one who recommended me it, and I was like, "I wonder if I can." And it was, I think it was early 2025, and I just remember, I have the text to be like, "No, 'cause I hadn't read the long game." Yeah, and I was like, "No, what are you like, happy?" And like, "Out together." And she's like, "Just keep going, keep going." And so then, you know, all the way through. And so I felt almost like, Like, the person standing on a cardboard like we're on a box shouting to him. - Just out of your like, a show is coming out. I need everyone to watch it, like get with it. We were in Mexico City when the first episode went out and I was like, okay guys, when we get back to the States, I'm gonna need to use your TV. My show is on. - It's gonna be the most fun. - This is my show. - It was just so exciting. And I think I love to just like, you made a post on Instagram for your 45th birthday, just saying like, hey, can't say I'm too excited, but who knows what will happen. And now you know what happened. Like, what was the, what, like, was that manifestation? What was it like making that post and then immediately all this happening? - Yeah, I gotta, I got my first tattoo right before that, right before my birthday and I got a lune. It's like, you're on my mind. - Oh, very nice. - And I got it because I just wanted to remember that moment of anticipation right before the show came out. Like, it was so exciting and like as we got closer and closer, just like the excitement seemed to be building online and stuff. And I saw more and more of the show so I knew how good it was gonna be. And you know, I was talking to the actors and stuff a lot and you know, about their own kind of excitement. We all kind of felt like maybe all of our lives were about to change, which they did. And maybe way more than we respected. - Right, right. But yeah, I just wanted to remember that moment. Like, however it went, I was like, I always wanted to remember how excited I was and this is Zach time. So, and why the lune? - The lune is like from heat of rivalry. There's like a little part at the cottage where Ilya is scared of a lune 'cause he's never heard one before. And yeah, I thought when the show was on 'cause a lot of people were talking online like making lune references. And I was like, people who are new to this are gonna be wondering why on earth people keep talking about lunes 'cause it doesn't get answered until the final episode. - Right. - So, but that's what fans of the series call themselves. - No. - So. - Does Ilya get the lune tattoo in long game? - Yes. Not, since I was wrong for a second. (laughing) - This is up on his kind of upper arm, kind of situation, but yeah, it's a different kind of lune tattoo, but same little idea, I guess. - Who first came to you with the idea to make these books into a show and where you like gung-hull about it or where you like, could you not see it as a show? - Well, it was Jacob Tierney reached out to me on Instagram, just DM me, the show runner. And he's a pretty big deal in Canada. So, I was surprised because I didn't think my books were particularly adaptable 'cause they're like pretty raunchy. (laughing) So, yeah, but then we had a Zoom call and he just laid out this amazing idea for the show and it was exactly what I would wanna hear. Like, it was, yeah, it just sounded amazing, everything he said. So, I was very excited right away. - Yeah. - And really touched that he was such a fan of the books and just really wanted to do this. - And he saw the vision. - Yeah, and the show is exactly what he laid out, like the show everybody watched, that's what he told me he wanted to do. And it's nice. - The show pan out, similar to like what you had in your mind when you were writing it. Does it look similar or what were the big differences? - Yeah, there are a lot of scenes that I was really kind of emotional watching because it was so much like what was in my head. Like the line deliveries, the expressions, just everything. I mean, some things are different and maybe like better than I was picturing in my head, but like, yeah, it was very satisfying to watch. - Was there anything you told Jacob? This is how I would like it to be. Like, you had a super strong opinion about? - I didn't really have to because we were pretty aligned. Like he really understood the characters, the story, everything that was important. Yeah, right from our very first conversation, I wasn't worried about it. He really got it. And then he sent me the scripts and all of that. So, you know, I knew how good it was gonna be, how faithful it was to the books, but also the things he added were really great. And yeah. - You know, we're always talking about what we're listening to, but how we listen also matters. That's why we've been all in on JBL's live headphones for our audiobooks. They're perfect for anyone who wants an immersive audio experience and loves getting lost in a great audiobook or podcast. - And trust me, I love getting lost in a great audiobook. JBL's live headphones really take it to the next level with their bold, unfiltered sound. Whether you're at home or on a long haul flight, the live's 80 hour battery life is perfect for a long listening session, so you don't have to press pause when the story gets good. They're perfect for a daily commute because the true adaptive noise cancellation 2.0 with real-time adjustments lets you decide how deeply you immerse yourself. From fantasy and fairy smut on the beach to saga fiction or true crime, the JBL's live headphones bring every gripping, vivid, even steamy detail to life in full color. So if you're ready to tune out the noise and lean into your own original sound, throw on a pair of JBL live headphones and let every story hit exactly the way it was supposed to. With a range of colors to match your vibe, find your pair at JBL.com. - Getting your sunglasses tangled in your hair sucks. Trust us, we know. That's why Shady raised tangle-free sunglasses are game-changing. They're made with smooth, snag-free nose pieces that glide right through your hair, so no tugging, no pulling, and no ruining your fresh blowout. Pop them on your head, slide them down, mid-selfie, or whip them off while chasing your sister with zero hassle. Their lightweight, polarized, and cute enough to go with everything from a messy bun and a thleisure to a glam brunch look. - We were just taking a drive yesterday and a drone was wearing hers and she looked good to sell. With more than 300,000 five star reviews, it's obvious that when something actually delivers, women can't stop talking about it. And every pair includes loss and broken protection. Forget them in the sand, drop them in a parking lot, or sit on them in the car, they'll still have your back. It's time to upgrade your shades and be kind to your hair. Head to ShadyRace.com, snag your tangle-freez, and finally call it quits with painful sunglasses for good. The best part? We've teamed up with ShadyRace to bring you an exclusive offer. Head to ShadyRace.com and use code HOM for 50% off, two or more polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the Shade's rated five stars by over 300,000 people. - This is our section called T-Time, where we're just really gonna get into all these details. So I love that kind of like, it is what you saw and even then it was something better because it was like in your head now it's these, these humans doing it, who were you picturing as actors? Like when he first came to you, you were like, okay perfect, I want this person and this person, or were you kind of like, I trust him? - We were on the same page about going with unknowns. We both thought unknowns was the way to go. I mean, for one thing, these characters are quite young. So there's that. We definitely didn't want guys who were like in their mid-30s to be playing like guys who are 17 to 25 over the course of the show. We, it was really important that Shane was Asian, BIRATION, we weren't gonna change that. And I think when we first started talking, we were like, well, whoever plays Ilya is gonna have to hopefully really be Russian because there's no way that we'll find somebody who's believably Russian. We just like, if he's not believably Russian, the whole thing falls apart. You know, like it's so important that that's believable. So much, much later when Jacob's like, we think we might go with this American guy, I was like, oh, but Jacob's so excited about him and I was like, okay. And as soon as I saw what he could do, I was like, yeah. - Yeah, we were really. - We're going with the American guy. - Yeah, yeah. - The show is so Canadian. - Yeah. - The English and Canada, mostly Canadian actors behind the scenes, it's Canada. Like, so I think it's a, you guys are very intentional with casting him and it worked out. - Yeah. - Just so I, isn't it, it wasn't also like a smaller Canadian production house too. - Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty, as far as Canada goes, it's a big one. But by like Hollywood standards, it's very small. - Are you in the writer's room? No, I was in-- - No, I was in-- - No, I was just like, Jacob would send me the scripts. - Cool. - And he was, you know, he liked to hear my notes. But like, I wasn't really giving him much. As far as notes went, I was just like, this is great. - Yeah, you did the work already, you're like, "Yeah, my note was this is amazing." - That's amazing, feel the have that trust in them as a creative partner for that. - Were there any romances that inspired you when you were writing? - There's a series called Captive Prince, which is a very, like, I really enjoy the series. It's by C.S. Picat. And it's an enemies to lovers. It's like a very, like a very slow burn, like, very epic. It's spread over three books, the love story. But it's like a prince and this other prince who's been captured and is now kind of his slave. And it's very good, it's very raunchy. It's very, but it's very romantic. And it's two very different personalities. And I think that was, I'm not, I think, definitely read it after I'd written at least a game changer, maybe a little bit while I was writing heated rivalry. But I think it definitely, like, made me realize, like what you can do as far as pushing boundaries. And like, I really like the dynamic of the characters. So I would say that was probably a bit of an influence. - Absolutely. And now did Connor Hudson bring anything to these characters that you were, that was unexpected? - They brought so much to these characters. I mean, yeah, I liked everything that they brought to those characters. I think the thing that amazed me the most, and it was right away the first day I visited the set. Because the thing about Shane as a character is like he's very in his own head. So it's, a lot of people were wondering how, where we're gonna see what Shane's thinking and feeling without having like a wonderier style, like commentary running over the top of it. And I think what Hudson was able to do with this, face is like unbelievable acting. Like, you know what Shane is thinking and feeling it all times, even when he's not speaking. And I was just like even the very first tiny scene I watched him film, which didn't have any dialogue. I was amazed. - Wow. - And I said that to him at the end of the first day. Like just, you know, the way that everything's just on your face is amazing. Like, just the choice to have these unknowns was so incredible and so exciting, I think, for the audience and also added to everything that was this amazing moment 'cause people want to get to know new people. I think we're tired of seeing the same faces and the same movies and the same shows and there they are again. And like to be able to like grab on to and see these two very talented, very cool new people just like, I made me so excited. I was like, who are they? I don't know everything. Tell me what's happening. I love that choice. - We've never seen them in any other roles. So it's not like, oh, that's a Marvel character. That's a superhero I know who's now doing this. It's their fresh. I've only ever known them in this. They smashed out of the water. - Smash out of the park. - Sports, sports people. - Smash it off the ice. - She smashed off the ice. - Off the boards, I don't know. - The board. - I don't know if she smashed into boards. - On the boards. - Oh, there it is. - Oh, yeah. - Yeah, I really, really, really, really, really, I'm not gonna say that. - So we discussed that you started writing Head of Rev. 10 years ago. And now you are starting to write the third one of Shane and Ilya, the seventh one. - Yeah. - Is it included in the Game Changer series? - It is. Yeah, it'll be the seventh book in that series. It's a very confusing series because it's supposed two and six are about the same couple. Now seven as well. But they just became the breakout stars of the series. So that's just what we're doing. - And when you read it, it makes sense. - Yeah. - And it helps your series. So you can do whatever the hell you want to. - Exactly. - We can break all the rules. - There's cameos. They blend into one another. So I personally like the way you did it. But since that was 10 years ago, when you first started your life has changed. - Yeah. - You've changed as a person. How do you think that will reflect in writing Shane and Ilya now? - Well, the biggest change is the anticipation that people have for this book. Like I'm thinking I'm like really like rare air now for authors where not many people are writing a series where there's this much anticipation about for the next book and that people have like this many opinions about the characters. So it definitely feels like way more pressure than I've ever had before. But I'm also like really lucky to be in this position. So it's kind of like, yeah, it's a double-edged sword. - Are you in a pressureous privilege feeling situation in a privileged king or? - Yeah, no, I mean that is a good way to look at it. I mean, yeah, I also keep saying like champagne problems. (laughing) - So many people want to read. - I know. - It's like, everybody wants to buy this book. It's definitely gonna be a bestseller. - I decided to buy it. - It's hard. - Oh. - Yeah, but yeah, and it's like I'm busy. So it's hard to find time. But again, I'm busy because everything's so successful. - Yeah. - It's not bad. These aren't bad problems. - What made you kind of talk about it? What made you want to continue on with the second book with the same couple? Because a lot of books I read or a series that we read, it's always a different couple. Did you just feel like there was more to their story to be told? - I just wanted to give them a happier ending. And now I guess I'm even happier ending. - Right. - They just didn't leave my head. Like the other characters, usually when I finish the book, I don't really think about them that much anymore, but these guys just kind of kept talking to me. - Really? - The story had to be continued. - Ah. - And I think my publisher at first was like, it's kind of weird to do like a sixths book. That's like the sequel to the second book. But there was just so much demand for it. Like by that point, people were really into those two characters. - I read Heated Revery. I have the text saying, so what happens? - You know, that's exactly why you wrote it. - Yeah. - Could you possibly set the stage for Unrivaled? - Yes, for the audience. - Yeah, like if you've read the long game, you know that by the end of it, they're on the same team. If you've seen the cover for Unrivaled, you also know that. - Yeah. - So at the end of the long game, they do get married and they are out. Everybody knows that they're a couple, obviously they get married. And they're on the same team in Ottawa. So that's where we leave them at the end of the long game. But you know, I just kept thinking about like, that's not really the end of their problems or the end of anything really. It's the start of everything. It's the beginning of them being in like a sort of normal relationship, at least not a secret one. It's the first time their teammates, there's gonna be huge backlash. There's gonna be all sorts of people feeling different things about them being this married couple who are teammates. Like that is brand new in the league. And you know, some people are gonna really, really love that. And some people are gonna really, really hate that. And some people are gonna be weird and parasocial about it. And like, there's so much stuff. So I just wanted to examine it a bit. - It's so funny 'cause in my realm in rugby, that's very normal for us and women's rugby. A good, we've somebody out on podcast, Portia Woodman, sorry, dating her teammate. And now they're married with kids. I know so many who date people on different teams, women. So it's so interesting how that's, it's like real life for women's rugby. And if there's probably some, maybe some of them in the nature. But, uh. - Women's hockey for sure. - Yeah, women's hockey for sure. - All right. - Interesting how that's kind of like, so norm for women, but men is just not the same at all. And I like that you aren't just gonna end it on. It's, and everything's good 'cause I'm worried. - Don't worry guys. - Happily ever after. - So accepted, we are fine. - Yeah, we're good. - Everyone's just celebrating them. - It's Hannah taking the wig off and everyone's gonna keep the secret. Okay. - No. - Which real life, I love that. - Yeah, so this is, yeah, it's been fun kind of continuing it. 'Cause yeah, I'm glad I'm doing it because I do think there's a little more to tell there. - And I'm hoping and excited to see cameos from the other books come in. Especially the ones that we've grown to love on the centaurs. - Yeah, it's nice writing like that team as a whole. It's kind of like, it's like its own character. So yeah. - It's larger than life. - Yeah, it's nice to meet them, or reunite with all of them. - And is there a character you're excited to write again? I mean, you've been writing but to write again. Like is there someone that's the loudest in your brain? - I won't shut up. - Probably Shane, Shane's the one I like, think about the most. - Why? - I don't know, I just really like him. I love writing from his point of view. I don't know, I think 'cause he just, he has the hardest time sometimes with things. So I'm always, I'm always worried about him. I'm always thinking about him. So yeah. I'm like Ilya that way. (laughing) - Yeah, I think we also left Shane in the long game with a lot of like internal struggles as well, especially regarding his eating, but then he has, Ilya has such support from Ottawa. And now we're gonna see, I was just telling them the line about like he was expecting to see the jerseys in their afters. - Mm-hmm. - Okay. (laughing) - Oh, it's me. - One of those things are like, "I need never will." - And he never will, but hopefully, maybe in Ottawa, rafter. - While you're writing with all this anticipation, are you avoiding fan theories? Are you? - Oh yeah. - He's talking about that. - I'm avoiding a lot of stuff online. - Really? - Yeah, I definitely don't wanna hear any opinions about what should be in this book because that'll really mess me up. - Yeah. - I know there's a lot of fanfic out there. Can't see any of that. - Right. - Yeah, I just generally stay out of fan spaces. The only place I really am is Instagram. I'm not on threads, just Instagram. And I kinda don't go looking for any heat or vibrate stuff. - Just crazy 'cause it owns the internet. - It's everywhere. - Yeah. - Really exciting. - It's my internet, what I pay for. Every woman's internet. - Every woman's internet. - Everybody's. - But I think that's very smart because if you saw something that maybe you liked, but then that's no longer, that's not, you know, something you thought of or created. So you're staying in a very safe zone. - Yeah, also if I see something that's similar to what I'm writing, I'll start to spiral because I'll think like, oh, it'll look like I took this idea or something. - Right. - So yeah, I just generally just don't, because I don't wanna start spiraling and questioning everything I've written. - And especially because the fandom is so massive and very passionate, that it'd be very sticky and I can imagine there's so many opinions and there's probably also a lot of hate out of there. - Yeah, and I can't please everyone. You know, all I can do is kind of pretend none of the fandom exists and I'm just writing for myself again because that's what I did for the first few books and it was, you know, successful. So I'm gonna try to do that again. - What is that process like for you? Do you have to be in a certain place in a certain time in a certain headspace? - I mean, I write, like, I write in my windowless basement to the most part. - So on a collapsible plastic table, like what's the thing? - It's pretty bad down there. It's surrounded by like boxes and junk. - Really? - Yeah, so that sort of grounds me. That helps, I don't know, I live in Nova Scotia so it's pretty separate from all of the hype, I guess. And it's a small place. So yeah, just being there with my kids and stuff, it just reminds me of the way things were before all of this. - Yeah. - What's been your kids' reception to all of this? - They think it's pretty cool. They also think it's pretty funny. Like I think when I get recognized in public, they find that hilarious. - How old are your kids? - 16 and 12. So, and so they have friends that are fans too, which is also a weird experience for them. - Interesting. - See, I would think that's so cool. My mom wrote that for the 16 year old, probably be like, oh my gosh. - Mom. - They're too cool for school, those 16 year olds. - Yeah, right. I'm not someone who's usually going to spend an hour doing my makeup, but I still want to look like I have my life together. Well, if you're looking for great makeup and skincare that's effortless, look no further than Merit Beauty. They make clean vegan cruelty-free products that all have nourishing skincare ingredients for a natural put together look. I love that Merit has so many easy to use products. My favorite is the minimalist, which works double duty as both a foundation and concealer so you can get quick coverage without layering a bunch of products. And also, do not forget about the flush balm, which gives you a natural, healthy glow without overdoing it. I'm actually wearing two shades of it right now because I love the flush balm. I don't know. I feel like I make a bonus. What can I say? Merit is an absolute game changer when it comes to elevated makeup products that make your life easier. Right now Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their signature makeup bag with your first order at Merit Beauty.com. That's M-E-R-I-T-Beauty.com to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order. Merit Beauty.com. Ladies, if your bras are driving you crazy, you need to hit third love up. Don't force yourself to wear uncomfortable bras. And just so we're clear, if your bra is uncomfortable, it's not your body. It's the bra. Third love is bras or so comfy. You honestly forget you've been wearing one. I refuse to get keep. I love the 24/7 classic wireless bra. In fact, it's on me right now. It's generally so comfortable and it fits me so well. I love something without underwear. Woo! Third love makes bras that fit real bodies. Their size is range from double-a to h and they even have half-cups. So you finally get a bra that fits all of you. Not most of you. The feeling of having a bra that actually fits is amazing. Absolutely magical. No digging straps, awkward spillage, or bands that are just tight enough to be annoying. Third love is just built different. If you're ready to upgrade to a bra you actually enjoy wearing. Use code mar15 for $15 off your first purchase at thirdlove.com. Were there any fandoms you were part of growing up? Not like really like I was a hockey fan, but I wasn't really like, I don't know if I have that fan personality where you get like super invested in a fandom. So like I have a one of my best friends is and it's always in a fandom. She's like, she's told me like, no you're not. You're not a fan girl. You're just not who you are. But I do, you know, there have been different things I've been very into, but like I think hockey is the thing that's been the most consistent. Did you write fanfic? Not much. I wrote, like when I was in my early 20s I like wrote a bit of smallville fanfic, which is like embarrassing to even admit. It's embarrassing to admit I was watching that. But I did a tiny bit and then maybe like a million years later I wrote a little bit of like, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Blake Meatport. And there was like a bit of comic book based fanfic, but like seriously like maybe over the course of 15 years I might have written like five or six fanfics. And they're all gone now like I deleted them all. You got rid of that. I heard Game Changers was originally Steve Rogers and Bucky. Game Changer was, it was originally original characters. It's much more confusing. So like I started writing it. Yeah, I want to say I started writing Game Changer like 2015 or something like that or maybe even earlier as original. And then I just like walked away from it for months. And then I went back to it and worked on it some more. And then I was like, I didn't know what to do with it because I just didn't want the idea of anybody reading what I'd written was mortifying. So I decided to like rework it as fanfic, which I'd never written like I guess that would be what you call like a you fanfic or like alternate university take characters and they have totally different lives than they do in in canon. So it was like yeah, so now Scott was Steve Rogers, which that kind of made sense because he's very much a cap American type, which is very popular in romance novels at that time. And then I didn't really change Kip it all, I just changed his name. Yeah, there's no difference in the fanfic version. And you know, added a bit of Marvel stuff to it, but and I posted it like a few chapters at a time. And I got like instant feedback. And I got like, you know, people saying like this is like I really like this and it gave me the confidence I needed to send like fix up the original version, send it to publishers. So I'm really grateful to the people that gave me nice feedback on that fanfic version. I took it down very quickly, which I always felt guilty about. But the fanfic community helped me become a published author by giving me the courage to let other people read my fiction, which was very difficult for me. So that's amazing. I appreciate it. And I know that what I did was weird. And I have a lot of regrets about it, but I can't look for you. Because yeah, I may never have sent it. Yeah, you did a reverse Uno. Yeah, we can only think that fanfic community. Yeah, I wonder now with just this explosion of fame, what are you doing for you to stay like good and to stay healthy? Because even for me, as I get, you know, after Olympics, when I was such an explosion, you have to take time for yourself. What does that look like? Um, I don't know yet. I think as long as I'm on this deadline, I won't know. But like once the book is done and some of the other stuff I have to do right after that is done. Basically next year, I think it's going to be really good. But yeah, no, this year has been amazing, but it has been a lot. It's been pretty nonstop. And having a deadline in the background is a lot too. It's like being in college again where you should always any free time is really time you should be writing. And if you're not, you feel guilty about it. Yes. Yes. I'm in that path, so don't worry. I'll take some of that stress from you. I'm pretty worried. Relax a little bit. I'll get stressed. Don't worry. Yeah. Olivia and I joke about living in my manager. We joke about all the time. Like, you know what? Fall 2027. I'm taking a break. It's going to go crazy. And then it keeps you okay, you know what summer spring 28 is going to be a movie. I'm taking a vacation. It's going to be crazy. But it's like, it's just so exciting. I quoted it before, but like it's very tiring, but you just don't get tired of it. I imagine the same for you. Like how excited? I mean, everything's been like, it's stuff I don't want to say no to because it's all fun. That's great. But yeah, I'm like, okay, January's going to be really relaxing. January 27th. But everything up until then is going to be pretty hectic, I think. Yeah, it's impressive that you are just on Instagram and you manage to kind of quiet, keep quiet around there. Do people try telling you stuff? Do your friends or your group chat? Yeah, sometimes people send me stuff. I don't mind some of it, but yeah, sometimes I'm like, no, don't even show me this. I don't want to know. But yeah, I mean, I do check in on some things. Like I'm going to be checking like Conor and Hudson's Met Gala looks tonight. Yeah. I'm going to check those out. Of course, all the time on Hudson Williams' updates. My friend will. I bet it will be on Instagram. I bet I won't have to look very hard now. It'll be the first thing we do. The first freaking thing. Is there something you're really looking forward to seeing on screen in season two? Oh, yeah. I mean, definitely there's like, there's like a wedding that's not like the wedding. I was really hoping you're going to say that. That's my favorite scene really on in the book that I'm very much looking forward to. And then I don't know, Conor's going to have so much work to do. It's a really, like it's a really yeah, so he's got a he's got to buckle up. No, yeah, Conor's going to have like a ton of work to do as Ilya because Ilya does a lot in the long game and has a kind of a rough ride. So I think I'm looking forward to seeing that. I'm looking forward to kind of seeing them having like arguments and stuff. I want to see them fight a little. Yeah, right. And when you were writing the Russian bits, did you have anyone consulting on that? Yeah, I definitely ran that by some native Russian speakers. I had to take their work. Yeah, right. I hope they weren't punking me, but like they, yeah, as far as I know, it's all good. It's all good so far. God, have you seen the casting of the new characters for season two already? Maybe. Keep your secrets. Keep your secrets. Or no. Anything to share? Nothing official yet, but I know. Probably. It was, I wonder when it was first coming out when people were standing in their self tapes, was it just like a smaller pool? When you were casting for this, was it just and Jake probably was just massive? From what I understand, yeah, I think it was a pretty small pool for season one. And then obviously the season everyone on earth is probably trying to get on the show. Right. Or trying to get their music on the show. Yeah. Oh, God, their music, the impact. Yeah, because the ripple effect that shows had for like people's careers has been crazy. Like, like so many people are doing great from this show that, you know, even just like tangentially related to it, which has been really awesome to see. Was there any music you'd like to see in season two? Jacob has such great taste in music. Again, I really trust him. Do you see have one like music editor he works with? Or he, yeah, there's definitely a music editor and then there's also like Peter Peter did the score. So I assume he will be doing the score again. I don't know, but I probably. I love so. Yeah. Just keep this good thing going. We kind of talk about this a lot that we're in a yearning Renaissance or we also talk a lot about like we're going to crush drought and I think so many people found just like enjoyment in reading romance like you write it and I just where like how else do you try to inject that into your like where do you just take that inspiration from? During the pandemic, people got really into romance. Yeah. And like I think we also just kind of like it synced up with the ebook boom as well. also that people could kind of hide what they were reading. - Right. - And I think that's why we have things like a lot of monster romance and things that weren't mainstream before. Are now all over, they're at the front of Barnes and Noble now. - There's a book talk table. - Yeah, that's just tentacle romance. - Yeah, yeah. - Whereas before you wouldn't see that. - And maybe tentacle romance doesn't need to be seen. (laughing) - But even queer romance was not really in book stores until very recently. So that's been great. So I guess when I write, I think about, 'cause I've gotten so many letters from people over the years about how these books and other romance novels have helped get them through some dark times. You know people have told me that this has gotten them through cancer treatment, or through the death of a loved one, or something like that, something heavy. It's like romance is such a nice thing to retreat to. - Yeah. - And things like right now are so stressful and bad for so many people that I think again, it's just romances there and the show, I think the same thing. I think it's why the show is so popular. It's just, it was kind of a life raft. - So you are writing Unrivaled. Do you have any plans to write another book out after that, or is that way too far ahead? - I will. Yeah, I'd wanna take a bit of a break. - I think you deserve that. - I wanna really think about the best idea for the next book and what it would be. I'd like to do something that's not hockey. I'd like to try that. - What do you say in the sports world? - Maybe, or maybe I'd like to do something very different. Like I don't know, I have like a few ideas and they kind of all over the place. So I guess when the time comes, I'll see which one. - It's all there, you know. - It's from the tentacle plan. (laughing) - Yeah, yeah, I'd like to do something different. I don't know, we'll see. But maybe it's smarter to stay a little closer to what I've been doing. - Would you potentially write a lesbian romance? - Yeah, I mean, that's something I would like to do for sure. And also, I'd like to write something that's not a romance at all, maybe. - Oh yeah. - So there's all sorts of stuff. - What's those muscles? - When do you think we will see an out NHL player? - I'd be pretty surprised if it was soon. - Really? - Even after all of this. - Sometimes I wonder if this would make it harder because people are so obsessed now. Like they get too much attention. - That's interesting, yeah. And to be the first after all of this too. - Yeah, be like more attention, like a be global attention. - Yeah. - And just like North America attention. - Wow. - But then you get to write your name in the history books. - Right. - Yeah. - And maybe Camille on. - Yeah, yeah. - You can do it now before these have felt like. - There is an out NHL prospect, I should say. - Yes. - Like Luke Prokop has been out for years. So I don't want to take anything with that. That he exists and I really admire him. But nobody who's actively played an NHL game. There's nothing like the rush of completely zoning out and finding pure freedom in a great workout. That's why we're fired up about the Peloton Cross training Tread Plus with Peloton IQ. It's more than just a treadmill. It's designed to make every session feel tailored to you and locked into the present moment. Peloton IQ maps out a training path that's uniquely yours so you can stop overthinking and just move. - With features that help you plan, stay motivated and achieve peak performance. You can let yourself run, lift, and stretch while Peloton handles the rest. - Peloton IQ delivers intelligent strength coaching that keeps you in the zone. It tracks every rep and adjusts in real time. So no number crunching, no second guessing, no wondering if you're doing it right, just to feel good release of letting go. - I'm obsessed with the swivel screen and personalized programs. Once it's been, I can go from running on the Tread Plus to strength training next to it without breaking my flow. Peloton IQ can also create workout plans and recommend weekly classes that match your mood and energy. The vibes are immaculate, so let yourself run, lift, fail, try, and go. - Explore the new Peloton Cross training Tread Plus at onepeloton.com. - There's a moment every NFL fan lives for, when the whole team is locked in, when the play unfolds exactly as it was drawn up. Every single person on that field showing up for each other at exactly the right time. You know that moment, everything coming together all at once, and the best part, nobody got there alone. That's the feeling US bank, smartly checking and savings was built around, because your financial life shouldn't be a juggling act. It should work like a team. - Your checking savings work in sync, tracking your spending, building your balance, and unlocking more rewards, the more you use them together. - That's why US bank smartly checking and savings are designed to do exactly that. Work together for you, so we can reward you more, because the best teams are built to win together. That's the power of us. - Visit usbank.com today to learn more, official bank sponsor of the NFL member FDIC, 2026 US bank. - All right, you're rolling with an Olympian, so we're gonna play a little game. We like to call bronze over gold. You'll have three options, and you have to rank them in their Olympic order for you. - You know, yeah. - Your opinion. Take your time and talk through your reasoning if you want for each one. The category is queer romances, surprise, surprise. That bronze over gold. Call me by your name, broke back malin, or happiest season. - I do like call me by your name a lot. I think that would be the goal for me. I really do like broke back mountain, but it is a bummer, not that. (laughing) - Yeah, true. It's not something I wanna watch. - Right, a lot. Yeah, but it is a beautiful movie, with like amazing acting. - And he's larger. - I'm still gonna put it at bronze though. - Okay. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Happiest season? - Happiest season. - Well, that would be silver. - Silver. - Call me by your name, gold. - Yep, that feels right. - Yep. - That feels right. Did you guys watch Happiest season? - I did. I first didn't know what it was, and then I realized, oh, it's at movie. - Okay, that's Christmas and I'm with it. - Christmas titles. - Christmas titles, they were all the same. - It also hurt that it was a Christmas movie 'cause people think they can only watch it at Christmas. - Right, right. - But it is, there's not that many, you know. - That's a really good place. - Lesbian or women-loven women movies. And it's, oh. - Did you see that? I think it was Jake, Gillin, Gillin, - Gillin Hall? - He was talking about how it broke back and even kind of like, what was once perceived that people did not like this gay romance, and they were just hated and the media were obscuring them back at that time. And now like to see how even it's involved with Hedal Rivery, you know, in some ways, they've gone through that to get to this point where it's so, it was loved and accepted in the media. - I remember when broke back Mountain came out, it wasn't in many theaters at first. It was actually quite difficult to see it. And one of the smaller theaters in my city had it, and I went to see it like four times at least. - Really? - Just 'cause there weren't a lot of queer movies. - Yeah. - And even though it was very sad, I went to see it four times. But yeah, no, I mean, things are changing anyway. - This is the part of the show where we discussed what's happening on Booktob, in our Good and Reads, adaptation news, and this week's Book Nook is sponsored by JBL, made to be heard. - JBL live headphones are amazing when you wanna get lost in a great audiobook, as I know, because I be locked into my audiobooks. I, myself like to queue up the heated rivalry cottage on Beyoncé videos on YouTube while I read. - Gillin. - Yeah, she's a low five girl. - I was calm. - Yeah, those type of things. Yeah, on Beyoncé videos. - And I can think of a few audiobooks I can immerse myself in. (laughs) - I love it. So we wanna talk about the process of making the game changer audiobooks. What was that like from your perspective? - It was, I mean, it's gonna be boring 'cause it largely hands off for me. - Really? - Yeah, from starting from the fourth book, I was able to choose the audiobook narrator from a list, so I chose Cooper North who I really liked from some other books. So books four through six are all Cooper North and he also did time to shine as well. And he has kind of a young tone to his voice, so I liked that, but then when I wrote the shots he take, which is about retired players who were in their 40s, I went with another narrator that I really liked, Greg Boudreau, because I knew he had a bit of an older tone. So I'm a big fan of audiobooks and of narrators, I think like what they do is really amazing. It's like, I mean, sort of like with animated movies, there's like a trend towards getting like Hollywood actors to do them, but I think, you know, it's like a professional voice actor, professional book narrator is like such a skill. So I still really champion the audiobook narrators. - They are celebrities to me. - And that's a profession that's their field. You wanna make sure that there's roles out there. - Yeah. - You're doing a small part or a big part to ensure that that is maintained. - Did you listen to any audiobooks? - Oh yeah. - Oh yeah, would you have a favorite? - I think the ones I really listen to the most would be like, I mean, I say a lot that I really like cat Sebastian's books. She's an author I love and she's a lot of really good audio books, but why do you love hers? - She's a really great writer. She writes mostly male, male romance. It was pretty much all historical, which she recently wrote her first contemporary. And yeah, she gets really good audiobook narrators and I relistened them a lot. So. - And my thing is, dude, you just like a basic narrated audiobook or those dramatized, like sound effect full production. - Oh yeah. - I prefer not those. - Yeah. - Because I think that's something else. - Yeah. - That's like a radio play. It's a different experience. - And I almost want to read it how it was meant to be. How the author, you know, committed it. - Yeah, I mean, the other things can be fun, but I think if I'm reading a book for the first time, I want it to just be straight up. - Yeah, absolutely. - Yeah. - And what kind of books do you listen to or read? Listen to, read? - All sorts of stuff. I mean, I do listen to a lot of romance, but not entirely that. Like right now I'm listening to "Bable" by RFQung. - I've been listening to that as well. - It's really good. - It's very long. - I got stuck. - I've gotta get back in there. - It's too far very long. (laughing) - What is it like 38 hours or something? - I don't know. - It has a lot of footnotes. - Oh. - And they're all red as well. - Oh. - It has a lot of what? - Footnotes. - And okay, how does that happen? - Basically as soon as a footnote appears, the it cuts to the footnote narrator, who's a different narrator. - Oh. - That's a bit jar, right? - But they're kind of funny though. Like it's not, it doesn't take away from the story. Like they're kind of fun side things. - I actually like it when it is a one narrator. Like I like when, I think it's such, as we're talking about, it's a skill when they add the slight accent. And you're like, oh, I know that's who they're talking about there, or 'cause of the way they've changed their voice. - That's her boy voice. - It's a skill. They're good at this. - It's a skill for a male narrator to not have like a woman voice that makes me want to die. - Yes. (laughing) - Yes. - Which is one thing I like about Cooper North. I also really like his Ilya accent, 'cause that's another thing that can make or break something. So yeah, accents are important. - You said that you got a list of names, could pick one out. Did you hear like an audition, or was it just kind of one phase? - I was pretty much just familiar with them already, 'cause I was such an audiobook fan. So, you know, and I was just thinking about my books specifically 'cause some of the narrators I liked, but I didn't think they had the right tone for these characters. But I didn't know about any of their ability to do a Russian accent. So it's kind of like unsure, but yeah, I thought Cooper North did a pretty good job. - That's been recommended a bunch on this. - Yeah, we need pretty broski. - She recommended it a lot. - That's why I started it. - Because she recommended it on the show. - Lona, we got a lock in, babe. - It's good, it's really good. - Really good, but it's very long. - Yeah. - And are you reading like, that's one that's very much so talked about right now. Are you often reading like what's being talked about on the bestseller lists, or just sort of when somebody recommends it to you? - I'm usually behind, lately I'm so far behind. - Really? - I've been very slowly reading books lately. So I'm usually not up on the bestsellers, but usually I get to them eventually. - Like, 'cause you've listened to so many audio books, do you sometimes get scared of the ones that are too long? - Yes, 'cause I want to be able to say, I've finished a book, I haven't been quite much quicker. So yeah, I definitely do. - What's your audiobook listening speed? - Like, she's fast. (laughing) - Do you make it fast? Do you set it to a faster? - Yes. - Yeah, she's like, two point, what are you? - Oh, whoa. - No, she's very fast. - Oh, okay. - I know it's telling I'm good, but I will say when I start a book, I keep it at a normal like a 1.3, 1.5, 'cause like we'll say, like when you start a book, maybe it's just 'cause I've been listening to so many now, I feel like the narrators are slowing it way down. Like they are going, where are you from? - I usually start at 1.2, because it's definitely gonna be too slow at one. - Yes, absolutely. And that seems like a normal speed. - I usually leave it there, but sometimes they're still too slow. I think the highest I go is 1.5 though, 'cause then you start to lose the performance. - Right, not for me, I'm telling you what. It's like hurting your attention. - Do you ever do not finish a book? - Oh, all the time. - Do you do that? - I will do it on first page. I don't care. - Really? - I will do it on the last chapter. I don't care. It's like life is too short. - I will do that too, but you don't do it. - No. - She will finish a book whether it's time, where I was like, I've gone 80% of the way, and I'm like, all right. I stop books at 80% all the time, 'cause I'm like, you know what, I get it. - I get it. - I just get it. - I read it up. - I'm not enough to say I've read it. - Right. - I read a lot of romance too, and especially sometimes when the romance is just, it happens so fast, and then you still have so much of the book left, but they haven't properly built it out that I'm like, well, the first half is so heavy, and then I'm just kind of, what am I reading at the end? - Yeah, pacing is extremely important with romance. You know, when that moment is to have them kiss for the first time or whatever it is, that you're doing, it's like, 'cause if it's too soon, you got a lot of book left, and you can even know what's interesting anymore. - Yeah. - But if it's too late, they've lost interest before it happens. - Yeah. - Oh, we was just talking about it in her book. She's like, "Belian, they've already done P and V." (laughing) She's like, "What are we gonna do?" - Okay, what's up? - What's up? - What are we doing? How do you know when the right moment is? You're just kind of like, you're kind of like fine, I'll give it to them. Like, or, yeah, I think you have to just feel it. Like, I've definitely thought I had the right moment, and then I changed it later because I was like, "Nope, this is not." I mean, I think a famous example from "He Did Rivalry" would be the "Tunumelt" scene, this people, which people were very frustrated about on the show and in the book, because Shane Leaves, at the end of it, originally, originally in the very first draft, he didn't leave. But I was like, no, he needs to leave. It's not time yet. - It's me. - So I know it's frustrating, but I think it was worth it in the end. - It keeps you hooked in. - Yeah, if it stayed, it would have been not as interesting. - Yeah, the payoff is better. So I'm not sure I tell these two, they get really bad secondhand embarrassment. Like when reading or watching something, they'll close their eyes, they'll fast forward, which I think is, no, the author did it on purpose. You need to experience it as they wanted it. - It looks very different. - You gotta drag it through hell. - Books are different. It's for me, it's like when I'm watching it on a screen, because it's, you know, like when I'm reading something into my mind, it's whatever, like I can make it to how I want it to be, but it's also, it's less literal, almost of like seeing the expression and seeing it. - I've such a problem in the 10 second button has only made it work. - No, it's bad. - You're gonna have to pay off. - Okay, it's 2.2 over here. - I'm experiencing everything though. - Well, definitely the first time I watched like any footage of heated rivalry. That was, I had to really psych myself on that first point, 'cause I was like, I was like, I know it's probably really good, but I think it's gonna be so weird to watch. - Right, right. - And it was, but it was also just so satisfying, such a delight. - Did you do it alone or did you go into the heat? - My husband was with me. - Okay. - And we decided to watch, we had all six episodes, but we watched one per night, so we could really think about it and talk about it. - Wow, so talk about a slow burn. - I know, we just really wanted to save her. - An episode one, was there a point where you went, okay. - Yeah, I think I'll post right away. (laughing) - Okay, yeah. - And Dre, you listen to music while you read. - Yeah, I think it's just because our house isn't maybe the quietest. And I grew up such a bookworm that I was reading whenever I could that like I was used to loud environments and almost putting on music and putting in headphones was less distracting than voices. - Yeah. - So I still love it to this day. All thrones, Spotify all the time. - I usually have to play a little mindless game on my phone while I'm listening to an audiobook or something, or to board be driving. I have to be doing something out of the way. - Something. - Or chores. - I can't just sit and listen to an audiobook. I use my mind starts to wander. So I need that second thing to keep me hooked in. - That's me as well. My house whole house gets clean. And then I finish cleaning everything and I'm like, well, no, I still want to keep listening, but I've got nothing else to do. - I just want to walk. - I'll walk. - I've even got to the point where I'll hold a physical book. Like, do listening and like follow a lot. - Oh yeah, yeah, that helps too. - That's helps. - I have had some times where I just, it was when I was reading the Throne of Glass series or I was listening to it again. That I wanted to keep going so much and I needed to focus. I just laid down in my bed, turned the lights off and I was just listening. - Really? - Yeah. - It was kind of nice. - It was like an immersive experience, like a sensory deprivation tank and you're just in the-- - I would totally lose whole chapters. I don't know. - Do you have a one book that you recommend to our audience? - We love asking people. - Any book? - Yeah. - Wow, that's huge. - I know. - Yeah, I'll recommend, yeah, I want to recommend my friends series because I don't think it's getting enough tension. The third book in the trilogy is, it just came out. I want to say it just came out or it's just about to come out. I got it early so I'm a little confused. (laughing) Yeah, Allie Therrens, the author, the series is called Sugar and Vice and it's an urban fantasy slow burn male, male romance. It's the romance is spread over the three books. It's like a world of where there's like, empaths who are like a kind of a problem that the government kind of has to deal with. And then there's like a guy who has no emotions who's been like altered to have no emotions so that he can hunt down rogue empaths. And that's the fan love with it. - Yes. It's so good. (laughing) So yeah, and I think it's really cinematic. Like I would love to see it as a TV series. So that's my recommendation because I think it's one that most people don't know about. And you can buy the physical books too. Like it is in print. It is an audio book and has a great audio book narrator and ebook as well. - Jacob is adapting Song of the Killies. - He's adapting a book called, I'm gonna blank on the name of the book, but I've read it and it's really good. But this show is gonna be, like, it's called Alexander. It's about Alexander the Great. - Oh. - But when he's really young and being tutored by Aristotle. So the books actually mainly, well, the books from Aristotle's point of view. I'm not sure if the show will be that way or not, but I have read some of the scripts and they are amazing. I feel like it was more Alexander focus, but I can't remember. - Okay. - But yeah, it was, yeah. So I'm really excited about that. But I know people have been saying they want to see Jacob adapt. - Okay, that's what it is. - Yeah, that was definitely going around the internet. Pretty hard. - And you're down for that. - I would be down for that. I'm down for somebody adapting it. Because I love that book. I love Cersei, the other book. Yeah, that's here is great. But yeah, Jacob's Alexander series is going to be amazing. I'm so excited it's getting made. - Anything he does is brilliant. I'm a huge letter-canny fan. And so when I first heard the news of He Did rivalry, and then I didn't know that Jacob, like, was the director of it as well. And I go, the gay pastor. (laughing) - Which then led me to-- - Which led me to-- - From the letter-canny. - Which led me down a rabbit hole of like, "Oh, he's brilliant. "He's brilliant. "I trust him to do this." And now, just knowing that what a hand he had in Letter County too is, like, what can't this man do? - Yeah, and he's made some incredible films as well. He's been around for a while in Canada for sure, making brilliant stuff, so it was huge honor to even hear from him. And then, yeah, obviously, he made a pretty good show. - Here we are. - Here we freaking are. You are now part of the family, so you've got to help out around the house. - Sure. - Choose some chores, and you'll be given a corresponding challenge. We've got laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and sweeping, which one? - I'll take dishes. - Dishes, read the last note in your notes app. - Oh, okay. - Woo! - You know, it's probably a list of books to recommend. - Oh, perfect. - That I made for this. - Perfect! - Oh gosh! - So, yeah, I can just tell you the-- - Absolutely. - Besides what I already recommended. - It's worked out perfectly. - It's like where I'll really go. I was gonna recommend a book called The Long Run by James Acker, which is a YA male, male romance. One of the characters is a track and field star in high school. That's why it's called The Long Run. It's just really good. Like, I just think, I remember when I was reading it, thinking like people who like my books would probably also like this book. It's, like I'm not even like the biggest YA fan. Like usually I don't really wanna read about people in high school, but this is really good. - We just did a YA for our book club, our Tall Tales About Club, 'cause we were like, we should throw a YA in there. - And I will say, I enjoy the YA. It was like refreshing to have a YA and just focus purely on like plot and there was a little romance, but it was kind of like a nice switch up. - It was, it was a palette cleanser. I did check and made the Alley Hazelwood YA back chest and I loved that. - It's kind of nice to revisit those. - It is! - It's just the rest of those feelings. What else you got for us? - This is a nonfiction book about hockey. We breed lions by Rick Westhead is this amazing and really harrowing book about how messed up hockey culture is, especially in Canada, especially with junior hockey. It's like a history, he's an incredible journalist in Canada and I really recommend it if you wanna understand all of the things that are broken about hockey culture. And the other one I was gonna recommend is Kat Sebastian's newest book Starship, which is about two television stars on a show that the fans really, really ship the actors as a real couple. - Oh. - And then they really do get together. But I read it recently and I was like, well this is very topical at the moment. - Yeah, absolutely. - And then I guess we also just wanna know since you're such a major hockey fan, will you just predict for us who's gonna win the Stanley Cup? - Oh yeah, Montreal. - Okay, perfect. - There we go. - Go Canadians. - Go Canadians. - Go Canadians. - Well, well, sorry. - Crazy, you said that. (laughing) - American Rug Play of the Room. - That's insane. - It's like a hockey, sorry. - It's like a hockey, it's like a men's hockey. - A lot of the players on the team are American. It's some of them. - Really? - Go Canadians. - Then go Canadians. - Oh, whereby we're used to rugby. - Yeah, where are we? - Yeah, probably actually our closest team in the world. - I'm a good closest team, yeah. You know what, hey, go Canadians. - I love it. - Well, thank you so much for coming up. - No problem, thank you. - This is so exciting to have you here. Everyone follow Rachel on IG at Rachel Read Rights. We will see you next week. - Thank you so much for coming over to the House of Mar, a Wave Original. - Be sure to watch, subscribe on YouTube, and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Plus follow the show on social media at House of Mar for clips and behind the scenes content. - Bye guys. - Go, go right and then take a break. - Yeah, take a break and break and do whatever you need to do. - We'll do. - Thank you. - Thank you. - Thank you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)