The explosive popularity of a television drama about two closeted ice hockey players has triggered an unprecedented shortage of the original novels in Australia, with booksellers struggling to keep up with a demand they compare to the 'Bridgerton' phenomenon.
A Publishing Phenomenon Driven by Screen Success
The series in question is HBO Max's 'Heated Rivalry', which launched on 28 November. The show, starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as rival athletes Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, is adapted from the first two novels in Canadian author Rachel Reid's 'Game Changers' gay romance series. The screen adaptation's success has created a tidal wave of interest in the books, catching publishers and retailers off guard.
A spokesperson for HarperCollins Australia confirmed the company moved quickly to acquire local print rights after learning the series would stream in Australia. Print copies of books one and two, Game Changer and Heated Rivalry, became available from 18 December, with books three through six following on 27 January. However, the initial print run was completely inadequate.
Booksellers Overwhelmed by Demand
Major Australian booksellers have reported a frenzy of orders that emptied shelves instantly. A Dymocks spokesperson stated their initial stock of the first two novels sold out within a single day, with significant backorders piling up. The title has been their most-searched online every week since mid-December.
Sophie Higgins, Head of Merchandise at Booktopia, provided staggering figures: the store has been selling over 100 paperback copies per day of the series and has sold more than 10,000 copies in total. All six books have consistently ranked in Booktopia's top 10 bestsellers since the show aired. Higgins drew parallels to previous demand surges for series like Fifty Shades of Grey and Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels after their screen adaptations.
Nick Croydon, CEO of QBD Books, noted a "clear and sustained surge in interest" extending to pre-orders for the entire series. He revealed that audience engagement for Heated Rivalry has surpassed major viral releases, indicating it has become a "culturally driven book phenomenon" breaking out beyond its core romance readership.
Looking Ahead: A Seventh Book and Continued Hype
The publisher HarperCollins has announced that the seventh book in the series, 'Unrivalled', will be released internationally on 29 September. This instalment will continue the story of Shane and Ilya. HarperCollins told the New York Times in December that 650,000 books in the Game Changers series have been sold globally, though this figure includes ebooks and audiobooks.
Author Rachel Reid has remained largely quiet on the print shortage, though she sympathetically responded to a public plea from a fellow writer for more copies. For now, Australian fans eagerly awaiting physical copies are hoping reprints, expected in stores next week, will finally meet the extraordinary demand ignited by their favourite televised sports romance.
