As Heated Rivalry fans await another season of the steamy hit Crave series, Rachel Reid is dealing with a whole new level of pressure in continuing her novels.
The author of the Game Changer book series on which the show is based explained that it’s “very difficult” writing sex scenes for the upcoming book Unrivaled as she now associates the characters Shane and Ilya with actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie.
“I watched it as it came out. Then I just said, ‘OK, I can’t watch it again until this book is done because I just need to focus on what I’m doing,'” she explained at a Q&A, according to E! News.
Reid added, “It was not easy because I wanted to watch the show. I love everything about the show. I love everything they did with the characters, but I just needed to stay focused on my version.
“It’s very difficult to write sex scenes when you’re thinking about [Connor and Hudson]. It’s very weird,” she noted.
Following the success of Season 1, Reid noted there “increased expectations” with her seventh in the book series. “Suddenly, within a few months, instead of having a small-ish loyal fan base who really cared about these characters, it felt like the whole world was waiting to see what happened next to them,” she said.
In January, Reid’s next book Unrivaled was announced, marking the third book in Shane and Ilya’s love story after Heated Rivalry and The Long Game, the latter serving as the basis for Season 2 of the show. Originally set to release last month, Unrivaled has been pushed to June 1, 2027 as Reid manages her Parkinson’s diagnosis.
Production began on the sophomore season of Jacob Tierney’s Crave Original series adaptation in Canada in August.
Deadline recently reported that Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Daniel Diemer, Shaheen Jafargholi, Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees, Priyanka, Brendan Morgan, David Tomlinson, Gerry Dee, Michelle Mylett, Lauren Chan and Nick Stahl have been cast in Season 2, which is set to premiere in spring 2027.
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