From BookTok to your TV screen: The much-buzzed-about steamy hockey romance series Heated Rivalry debuts its first two episodes on HBO Max Friday.

The six-episode series, created by Jacob Tierney and based on the popular novels by Rachel Reid, follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two rival hockey players who start a secret relationship in their rookie season that ends up spanning years. Hudson Williams plays wholesome Canadian superstar Shane, opposite Connor Storrie as Russian bad boy Ilya.

Tierney, Williams and Storrie say seeing the fan excitement grow online before the show has even aired feels “surreal” and “crazy.”

“It just makes me so excited for them to see the show,” Storrie tells ABC Audio. “Because if this is the reaction without, I can’t imagine some of the reactions to

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