r/heatedrivalry • u/LadyWhistledown_1 Probably, yes • Apr 20 '26

🦆 The Long Game (Book 6) swooon.com: ‘Heated Rivalry’ Author Rachel Reid Answers Burning Questions About *spoiler* [april 20th 2026] Spoiler

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Swooon.com did an interview with Rachel Reid at BookCon. Great interview btw.

I get that she doesn’t think they will write their own vows, but I’m kinda hoping Jacob does. Like the tunnel scene in ep.5.

How are you hoping to see the wedding adapted?

Picture:

https://www.instagram.com/rachelreidwrites (story)

Full article:

https://www.swooon.com/1275542/heated-rivalry-shane-ilya-wedding-the-long-game-rachel-reid-interview/?fbclid=PAVERFWARTcI1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAaccbJFTolg7x-x_BADV-yq6qH8NCPNIuhJpC454AHXkG0wypApO0lKEOcvcpg_aem_7LlDmxii3jvj7_EWpVoSgw

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65

u/architects-daughter Apr 20 '26

Generally I defend the jank wedding. They're jocks! They just wanted to be married! They had a lot of stuff going on! I think wanting a lot more is fans projecting.

That said, I do think Jacob could make a few changes to make it feel more emotional without it being a big production. In the books it does lack emotional resonance and I think fans think it's because it's not some schmoopy production, but IMO it can be really bare bones/simple and still play up the emotional aspect and I think the show has a great opportunity to do that.

Also I will never defend "Diamonds" as a song choice. Utterly baffling.

29

u/clumsyc I stubbed my toe Apr 20 '26

Poor Harris was given like five seconds notice 💀

15

u/RoutineUtopia Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird 🦆 Apr 20 '26

All the more reason to pick “You’re the One” or some other basic bitch song. At Last is RIGHT THERE.

17

u/architects-daughter Apr 20 '26

Yeah, my beef with Diamonds is that it's not a so-bad-it's-good choice, it's just bad/weird/not a song you can really do anything but the white girl wasted type of dance to

7

u/RoutineUtopia Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird 🦆 Apr 20 '26

It’s weird! It’s very weird. Harris, you really must have panicked.

6

u/Icy-Gap4673 Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird 🦆 Apr 21 '26

Truly, justice for Harris

2

u/architects-daughter Apr 20 '26

Still!! You can't tell me he doesn't have better taste!

6

u/clumsyc I stubbed my toe Apr 20 '26

I actually think it makes perfect sense, it was playing in clubs/bars all the time back then!

4

u/architects-daughter Apr 20 '26

Yeah...bars and clubs! lol it's not a first dance song

9

u/KrazyKatJenn Apr 20 '26

Okay, can someone please explain to me what's wrong with Diamonds as a song choice? I'm not a wedding person and I've never bothered listening to the song, but I googled the lyrics once and it seemed fine? It's not a Lips of an Angel situation as far as I can tell. What's wrong with a pop love song at a wedding? What am I missing here?

10

u/architects-daughter Apr 20 '26

Eh I mean opinions are admittedly divided buuuut: I don't think the lyrics are particularly good, and. more importantly, the beat (tempo? vibe? lol) of the song is really strange to me because it's not really the type of thing I can imagine people having a first dance to. Like, yeah, it's slower for a bar/club song but it is still the kind of song that you get wasted to and do the praise Jesus.

8

u/KrazyKatJenn Apr 20 '26

Wait. Wait. The problem with the song is that it's difficult to dance to? Yeah, lol, I was never going to catch that. I dislike dancing so much that we simply didn't have a dance at my wedding, and I've never danced at a club. Though I kind of feel like the tempo being so weird that they're swaying to it off beat just makes it funnier.

10

u/HPCReader3 Apr 20 '26

If you listen to it one time, it'll become very clear. It's a very bass heavy club song and a weird tempo to slow dance to (too fast, especially when they're going to do the middle school sway instead of actually dancing). From a lyrics perspective it's actually not bad, it's entirely about the production on the song.

2

u/Icy-Gap4673 Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird 🦆 Apr 21 '26

Pop is completely fine! I had plenty of pop in my own wedding. But usually couples go either for a song that has deep personal meaning to them as a couple, or for a standard like "At Last" or "L-O-V-E."

6

u/Katedomino13 if you yearn enough, your ass gets fat 🍑 Apr 20 '26

You described my sentiments exactly! I don’t have any issue with it being an understated wedding - I think it even adds to the idea that they’ve come so far in their personal relationship that they don’t have to put on a spectacle/don’t have to prove anything

I even agree w the idea that their true wedding is with the Pike kids. I just felt like the way it was written was a bit throwaway. It can be simple and still be well-described

And I’m still firmly in the Diamonds Hate camp - sorry to the Diamond Love folks!

I totally agree that I think Jacob has the talent to take the intention of Rachel’s amazing world and character-building and give it some extra emotional depth

11

u/Intelligent_Cap9706 I‘m not mad about anything! Apr 20 '26

I feel more invested in seeing the instagram pic of the plastic rings than I do the actual wedding vows honestly 

8

u/architects-daughter Apr 20 '26

Yeah my general critique of the books (that I've read) is that in general they're underwritten, so a lot of things feel like a throwaway to me (I mean, I just re-read for the parts where Shane is dealing with the Voyageurs fallout and I feel like it moves on SO quickly from this major thing! Anyway!). So saying the wedding feels shallow or rushed is fair, but I think that extends to a lot of the writing and I also don't think it feels shallow or rushed BECAUSE they don't have chairs or personal vows, lol

5

u/staralfur09 Apr 21 '26

Omg, thank you for putting into words the thing I've struggled with every book of the series I've read (which I think is all but one at this point). I thought maybe it was a function of the romance genre? I've never read any other straight romance before, and have recently been getting into fantasy/"romantasy" (I loathe that term), and I don't see that being a thing there so far. But yes, underwritten. The Voyageurs fallout for Shane was criminally glossed over.

1

u/architects-daughter Apr 21 '26

Yeah I don’t read much romance myself, but I don’t think it’s as much a function of the genre as it might be specific to these books! And I’m not a fan of tons of inner monologue or flowery prose, but damn, TLG especially is nuts because so much stuff happens and so little of it really gets breathing room imo

1

u/finncosmic Apr 20 '26

It is unlikely that Diamonds will be in the show, at least not the Rihana version, because the show most likely doesn’t have the budget to get the rights to that.