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Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid has dominated the bestseller lists since the adaptation of her hockey romance series — now she’s being recognized as the game changer for Canadian women in media.
The Nova Scotian writer was celebrated at the annual Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Canada gala. She received the 2026 Changemaker Award for “elevating underrepresented voices and pushing boundaries through storytelling,” the Women In Entertainment Canada event organizers said in a statement for the Hollywood Reporter.
At the gala on May 28 in Toronto, Reid was presented with her award by Canadian actor Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, who plays the character of Svetlana in Heated Rivalry.
“What Rachel has achieved has not only created sensational stories but she has also been making Canadian history,” said Kharlamova on stage. “Rachel built characters that people saw in themselves and she created a safe space for communities that are often overlooked.”
Reid is the author of eight novels, including the Game Changer series, which follows the lives of closeted hockey players in the NHL. Her second book, tells the story of two rival captains, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, as they navigate their feelings for one another while being high profile athletes. Their love story became the focus for Montreal director Jacob Tierney’s show of the same name, Heated Rivalry.
Reid’s contributions to women in entertainment were recognized as one of six honourees at the gala held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, alongside actors and producers like Andrea Martin and Lilly Singh.
In Reid’s acceptance speech, she joked that after being asked an endless amount of times why women enjoy her books and the show, the answer has always been clear. For her, there is an obvious appeal to reading or watching men be emotionally vulnerable and sex scenes that are “full of consent, caretaking, checking in and mutual pleasure.”
Still, while her intention is not to write books about men for women, her ultimate goal in sharing these stories has always been centred around her own values.
“I write them as a way to explore the ways patriarchy and toxic masculinity harm us all. I also write them because I care deeply about queer rights, about trans rights and about the right for everyone to be who they are openly and without fear.
“Writing these stories is my own small way of fighting back against a system that depends on hate, fear, conformity and othering.”
Ahead of the awards ceremony, Reid and Tierney spoke on-stage about handling the massive amount of attention their show and her books are now receiving.
“It’s been crazy to watch what’s happened to Hudson and Connor, but it’s been pretty crazy to watch what’s happened to you,” Tierney said of Reid being recognized as an author. “The thing that I didn’t expect, besides all of it, [is] how important this show has been to people … [Rachel] and I communicated something to them and they want to share back.”
The author and director are not done sharing their stories together yet! The second season of Heated Rivalry is set to start filming this summer and while Reid’s seventh book in the Game Changer series, Unrivaled, comes out next year, she’s already thinking ahead about writing something completely new once the series wraps.
“I’d like to write something that’s not about hockey.”
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