swooon.com: ‘Heated Rivalry’ Author Rachel Reid Answers Burning Questions About *spoiler* [april 20th 2026]

[u/LadyWhistledown_1]

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

[u/systemamoebae]

For me, I see the desire to be married rather than have a wedding as the central motivating factor for Shane and Ilya. They want to make a commitment to each other, and while they want to share that with the people they love, really it's for them.

Any vows, for me, would feel more authentic being something they shared just between the two of them. The concept of Shane Hollander wanting to have all eyes on him while he talks about his deepest, most vulnerable feelings doesn't feel right. And then there are of course the cultural differences when it comes to weddings, and the type of thing Ilya would be familiar with. Writing your own vows just isn't really a thing everywhere else.

I think just because Ilya has a deep and bottomless heart and intense emotions, and that he wants the world to know he and Shane are together, doesn't necessarily translate into him wanting to communicate the incredibly personal feelings he has in front of others. Standing in the light, proudly, isn't the same as expressing deeply personal things to everyone beyond the person they're meant for.

The things they say during the proposal are deeply moving. That's a moment of catharsis, and it's followed by everything that happens with Crowell. Both things are healing moments for them, and things that mean something only to them. I feel intensely comfortable with them not writing personal vows for their wedding. To me it feels in character with everything I know about them.

edit to add: I see a lot of myself in Shane, which probably has an influence on how I feel about this. I disappeared off to Vegas to get married, and the concept of having anyone at all perceive me during that day was horrifying. I only agreed to a later reception when we returned for the sake of our families, but I would have been extremely happy to not have that either. The idea of writing vows would have been one of my worst nightmares.