Crave’s adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry took over the internet — and our hearts — almost overnight last December. Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie have skyrocketed into stardom, being featured on outlets like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, GQ, and most recently, as torchbearers in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
For many of us, finishing the series left a very specific void that can only be filled by either rewatching every episode (more than 15% of those who rewatched have reportedly rewatched an episode five or more times!) or finding something new that captures the same level of intensity, yearning, and emotional depth. If you’re leaning toward the latter option, you’re in luck.
Not quite ready to leave the cottage? Here are five queer reads to add to your TBR for the ultimate Heated Rivalry hangover cure (Warning: these recs might leave you even more emotionally distraught than the Heated Rivalry finale).
- In Memoriam by Alice Winn
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First up, and my personal favorite, is Alice Winn’s In Memoriam. Winn’s lush prose narrates the tragically beautiful story of two childhood friends, Sidney Ellwood and Henry Gaunt, who are caught amidst the devastation of World War I.
The romanticization of the ongoing war within their English boarding school leads Gaunt to enlist and run from his feelings for Ellwood, and to his horror, Ellwood follows him into the trenches.
A side note: much like Heated Rivalry, Ellwood and Gaunt also can’t bear to call each other by their first names, a detail I thought especially heartbreaking. The forbidden romance is heightened by the impossibility of keeping their love in focus amid the horror they face in trench warfare.
Winn crafts an immersive story with a realistic ending of life altered by war rather than neatly resolved, and Winn, if you can hear me, I need a sequel!
- Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
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“… And I’ll call you by mine.”
Return to your roots! André Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name is the modern blueprint of queer yearning. This literary slow burn captures the intoxicating intensity of first love and loss during one transformative summer somewhere in Northern Italy.
If one heartbreak isn’t enough: watch the critically acclaimed film adaptation, Call Me by Your Name (2017), and read the sequel novel, Find Me, if you want to cry even more.
- Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
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If you’re looking for an absolutely devastating lit-fic that lingers long after the final page, you’ve found it.
This mid-century classic set in 1950s Paris tells the tale of David, an American expat struggling with his sexuality, and his love affair with an Italian bartender, Giovanni.
Unable to face the gravity of his feelings when his girlfriend returns to Paris, David attempts to erase the affair from his life while Giovanni’s world descends into tragedy.
Its frank depiction of homosexuality was both unprecedented and extremely controversial at the time of its release in 1956, and it remains one of the five most frequently banned LGBTQ+ classics today.
Baldwin perfectly captures the suffocating feeling of being trapped in an inauthentic identity through the claustrophobic symbolization of Giovanni’s room, a place that becomes both a refuge and a prison.
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
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Before Heated Rivalry, there was Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue. If what you’re missing most from Heated Rivalry is the absolutely unhinged amount of spice, this is the one for you.
McQuiston’s novel follows the sweeping enemies-to-lovers romance between Alex, the son of the United States President, and Prince Henry of Great Britain. What begins as a carefully managed PR event quickly spirals into an all-consuming secret relationship filled with delectable banter, stolen kisses, and unapologetic romance.
Red, White & Royal Blue is a love letter to queer joy, one that lets its characters love loudly, messily, and without apology, making this novel the perfect counterpart to everything we love about Heated Rivalry.
If you want to take it off the page, there’s also a film adaptation (2023) streaming on Amazon Prime, and a sequel coming soon!
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
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Lastly, and I’m sure you’ve heard of this one, is Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that this book absolutely lives up to its hype — coming from a girl who’s read it no fewer than four times. This fandom is an absolute prison.
Based on the classic tale in Homer’s The Iliad, this novel tells the story of Achilles’ rage. Though traditionally written as “close friends,” Miller writes from the perspective of Patroclus as his lover — a theory she credits to Plato.
Fair warning: this novel is heartache bound into a book. We know how this story ends, and we dread it coming, but somehow, that makes it all the more beautiful.
Hopefully, these books will get you through this Heated Rivalry-less slump we’re all in right now. Happy reading!
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