You had the furnace on full blast, soup warming on the stove, and every blanket you own ready to burrow under. But if you were a New Yorker looking for ways to stay toasty during the weekend’s winter storm, Mayor Zohran Mamdani had another suggestion.
At a press conference on Sunday, Mamdani offered some advice to shivering Gothamites. “The snow is coming down heavily across our city, and I can think of no better excuse for New Yorkers to stay home, take a long nap, or take advantage of our public libraries’ offer of free access to Heated Rivalry on e-book or audiobook for anyone with a library card.”
The New York Public Library is offering instant access to Rachel Reid’s popular gay hockey romance novel—as well as the other five books in her Game Changers series—to New Yorkers eager to dive into the bestselling books. The no-wait access to the books is on offer through Feb. 14. (How romantic!)
Heated Rivalry, published by Carina Press in 2019,became one of the most in-demand romance novels in the world following the phenomenal success of its Canadian television adaptation, which streams on HBO Max in the U.S. The book and the series follow the relationship between hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who play for rival teams.
Shane and Ilya’s love story continued in Reid’s 2022 novel The Long Game, and the author announced earlier this month that a third novel featuring the characters, Unrivaled, will be published in September.
If you’re a New Yorker who prefers physical books—and doesn’t demand instant gratification—there’s good news for you, too: The library announced that it’s adding more print copies of the books to branches across the city. Given the popularity of the novels, though, it’s likely the snow and ice will be long gone by the time you get your hockey gloves on them.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
