I know you\u2019re used to picking up this column expecting some hard-biting political analysis, a sharp critique of the latest injustice, or the occasional suggestion about what our community should or sometimes shouldn\u2019t do next. You might even imagine that I spend every waking minute turning these issues over in my head. And, truth be told, sometimes I do. But even I need a break now and then.<\/p>\n
During the COVID era, many of us discovered small comforts that helped us escape, even briefly, from the weight of the world. Some people baked bread. Others learned languages or dove into yoga. I discovered something far simpler \u2014 and far more fun. It became my way to shut out the noise, forget the headlines, and just breathe for a moment.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll call it what it is: a guilty pleasure. And the good news is, it\u2019s one you can enjoy right along with me and it\u2019s now streaming on HBO Max.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d \u2014 originally from Canadian streaming service, Crave \u2014 is proudly billed as \u201ca steamy gay romance series.\u201d On the surface, you might expect a basic love story: boy meets boy, boy falls for boy, and they ride off into the sunset together. Not quite.<\/p>\n
Try this instead: two star players on rival professional hockey teams, both deeply closeted, both fighting battles far bigger than what happens on the ice. One is the all-American golden boy. The other is a Russian player whose father is a high-ranking military official, carrying his own heavy load of family pressure and personal struggles.<\/p>\n
When they manage to sneak away and see each other, the world seems to melt. But their secrecy, their teammates, and their families keep them from ever fully being themselves even with one another. Oh, and did I mention that one of them might have a girlfriend? That\u2019s just one of many twists that keep you hitting \u201cNext Episode.\u201d<\/p>\n
This all reminds me of something from those early pandemic days. You may recall that my husband Jason and I did a daily Facebook livestream to help all of us stay connected. We\u2019d share news, lighter stories, and moments that made us smile. One day, we covered a lively debate happening in the U.K. among gay men who were devouring what were called \u201cM\/M romance novels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big debate wasn\u2019t the content, which readers loved, but the authors. Most of them were straight women. I found the whole thing both humorous and understandable. For years, most gay romance novels written by gay men were heavily sexualized. Meanwhile, these new books leaned into romance first, letting the sex arrive later, sometimes much later. I used to joke to Jason: \u201cIt\u2019s a good book if the sex doesn\u2019t happen until after page 100.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the truth is, I became a fan. These novels and now the series inspired by them offer stories of connection, longing, tenderness and hope. Today, you can find an M\/M romance for almost any interest: Amish farmhands, baseball players, boyhood friends, enemies-to-lovers, assassins, detectives, even full-blown sci-fi universes. Think of it as Harlequin for gay men.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re tempted to explore this world yourself, it\u2019s as easy as an Amazon search: just type in \u201cM\/M romance\u201d and you\u2019ll see more titles than you could ever imagine.<\/p>\n
In a world that can feel heavy, divisive and exhausting, there\u2019s something wonderfully human about stories that remind us of romance, possibility, and the simple joy of getting swept away, even for an hour. So go ahead, find your own guilty pleasure. Trust me, you\u2019ve earned it.<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I know you\u2019re used to picking up this column expecting some hard-biting political analysis, a sharp critique of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":422204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,191741,100591,197075,487,191743,197076,1448,2830,1311,197077,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-422203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-crave","10":"tag-game-changers","11":"tag-guilty-pleasure","12":"tag-hbo-max","13":"tag-heated-rivalry","14":"tag-mm-romances","15":"tag-pa","16":"tag-pennsylvania","17":"tag-philadelphia","18":"tag-rachel-reid","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115656705030794947","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}