Heated Rivalry Book Review: Tough Guy: Part 1 - First Impressions

About this episode

Declan is joined by Jenn from The Book Refuge to dive into Tough Guy, the third book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, and it’s quite the change of pace after Heated Rivalry. This time, we’re talking Ryan Price and Fabian Salah, two characters who couldn’t seem more different, but who might be exactly what the other needs. We unpack Ryan’s anxiety and complicated relationship with hockey, Fabian’s unapologetic confidence and queerness, and why their much slower journey towards intimacy makes their relationship feel so different from Shane and Ilya’s. We also get into the book’s exploration of toxic masculinity and hockey culture, the importance of friendship and support, Ryan’s experiences with performance anxiety, and the way Rachel Reid writes intimacy without making sex the end goal. Plus, we ask whether Fabian is always quite as understanding as he thinks he is, discuss why Wyatt might secretly be one of the best characters in the series, and inevitably find several excuses to talk about Shane and Ilya again. Is Tough Guy actually the best-written Game Changers book so far?  The next episode of the Long Game podcast will be released on Sunday 20th Septe