Fans have been waiting for months to see how the Heated Rivalry show would stack up against the books, and good news: its an extremely faithful adaptation that doesnt shy away from the intense yearning, intimacy, and extremely hot and explicit gay sex between the two main characters.The rivals-to-lovers story follows a year-long romance between closeted gay Canadian player Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and closeted bisexual Russian hockey star Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). The two men first meet when they are gearing up for their rookie year, and they have instant chemistry that translates into years of secret trysts and repressed desire before they start falling for each other. Despite the adaptation closely following Rachel Reids book, even pulling most of the dialogue directly from the novel, there are a few changes from page to screen. Some were made for budgetary reasons, some to condense the timeline, and others likely for clarity, but dont get us wrong, this is still a loving tribute to the book.So, for those of you who have yet to read the book (Seriously, what are you doing? Get on that asap!), or if its been a while, here are the changes the show made.Heated Rivarly is currently streaming on HBO Max in the U.S. and Crave in Canada.Hockey team namesWhen we first meet Shane and Ilya in the book, we learn that Shane is playing for the Montreal Voyageurs and Ilya is on the Boston Bears. The show couldnt use these names so they had to change them to the Montreal Metros and Boston Raiders. Ilya Rozanovs lookIn the book, Ilya is described as being much taller than Shane at 6 feet 3 inches tall, but in real life, Storrie is around the same height as Williams. He is also missing Ilyas signature bear tattoo on his chest though this was likely changed because the show had to switch up the names of the hockey teams.Despite looking different than he was described in the book, Storrie perfectly embodies the character and after seeing the way he smolders at Shane or how caked up the actor is, fans dont really seem to mind.Shanes apartment building (@) In the book, we learn that Shane purchased an entire apartment building so that he and Ilya can have a private place to hook up. This shows us just how deep Shane has fallen despite refusing to admit it to himself, while Ilya becomes frustrated over the course of the book that he never gets to see inside Shanes real bedroom.But when the two men meet up at Shanes apartment in the show, its Shanes actual apartment and not just one he bought specifically for their trysts. Its a shame that it had to be cut for financial reasons because in the book, this perfectly encapsulates the push and pull Shane feels between wanting Ilya and his fear of getting caught, and shows Ilyas desire to know more about Shane.The prologueIn the prologue of the book, we get a scene in the future where Ilya and Shane are already hooking up on the regular. This time, they meet up at Shanes apartment building for a rendezvous that leads to the pair having sex and then continuing the fun in the shower, where they give each other blow jobs. The show starts the timeline when the boys meet for the first time, so although we havent gotten this scene so far, that doesnt mean it wont show up at some point. The trailer shows a hot and steamy shower scene, so we may get it in a later episode.Early O scene (@) The first time they have sex in the building Shane bought for them, Shane goes down on Ilya and is so turned on that he manages to have a hands-free orgasm. This scene is changed in the shows so that instead of it happening while going down on Ilya, Shane climaxes while being topped and then teases Shane about it later.In the book, the scene is both hot and hilarious, and gives us a glimpse into how close the two rivals have gotten despite their best efforts not to. After it happens, Ilya laughs at him, and Shane tells him to shut up, But Ilya laughed harder, Rachel Reid writes in the book. He laughed until Hollander joined in, and then they were both holding each other and laughing until they were wiping tears from their eyes.TextingThe second episode of the show opens with time jumps that span two years, punctuated by Ilya and Shane texting each other, but never shows them meeting up. In the book, the longest they ever go without hooking up is between the Olympics and when they have sex in Las Vegas. This change doesnt really detract from the story and allows them to be able to condense the book into a six-episode show. Plus, it means we got to see Ilyas hilarious texts on screen, including some new additions that werent in the book.Russian phrase (@) In the book, Shane hears Ilya say something in Russian while theyre having sex for the first time in Las Vegas, but doesnt know what it is. This is left out of the show entirely, but author Rachel Reid has that same chapter written from Ilyas point of view on her website, where we find out that Ilya is falling for Shane and doesnt know what to do about it, so he says in Russian, Why does it have to be you? Why are you so perfect? Its fucking awful. Our hearts!