The Long Game, by Rachel Reid

I had hoped to post this review back in July; alas, my brain made a different decision, and for the second time this year, I found myself unable to read new-to-me books, or to write about…well, anything. Things are looking up for the moment, so here I am, back with my Game Changers/Heated Rivalry nonsense. Beware: clinical depression; suicide of a loved one in the past; parent suffering from Alzheimer’s, in the past; death of parents, in the past; homophobia; swearing; quite a bit of explicit sex between two consenting adult men. The Long Game, by Rachel Reid. We have finally come to the book that is both the direct sequel to Heated Rivalry, and the original ending point for the Game Changers book series (see footnote 1); Shane and Ilya are now in a very committed, if still secret, relationship, which makes life much better in many ways, yet more challenging in others. First things first: the author does a fair bit of work so this book stands on its own, and I’m of the general opinion…