New Yorkers net free downloads of Heated Rivalry
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/01/2026 (245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Rachel Reid’s romance novel Heated Rivalry scored a big boost in the Big Apple thanks to a winter storm that walloped the Eastern U.S., a shout-out by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a promotion by the New York City Public Library.
At a Jan. 24 news conference in advance of the storm, Mamdani was offering New Yorkers the usual warnings about staying home and taking precautions. He then brought up the wildly popular gay romance novel set in the hockey world, which is having a moment thanks to the six-part Canadian series of the same name on Crave, saying people could “take advantage of our public library’s offer of free access to Heated Rivalry on e-book or audiobook” for those with a library card.
According to the New York Times, the library saw a 529 per cent increase in the download of Heated Rivalry following the news conference.
The New York Public Library has provided unlimited e-book copies of the books in Reid’s Game Changers series through Valentine’s Day. Prior to the library’s announcement, there had been 3,000 readers on the waiting list to download the books.
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The winners of the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, administered by the American Library Association, have been announced.
In the fiction category, Megha Majumdar’s A Guardian and a Thief took home the top prize, beating out the two other finalists, Han Kang’s We Do Not Part (translated by e. yaewon and Paige Aniya Morris) and Agustina Bazterrica’s The Unworthy (translated by Sarah Moses).
The non-fiction award went to Yiyun Li for her book Things in Nature Merely Grow, which topped fellow finalists Mélikah Abdelmoumen’s Baldwin, Styron, and Me (translated by Catherine Khordoc) and Brian Goldstone’s There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America.
Each of the winners receives US$5,000.
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The Writers’ Trust Board Fellowship, which is awarded to a writer approaching mid-career, has announced Victoria’s Anne-Marie Turza as its 2026 board fellow.
Turza has authored two books of poetry, The Quiet and Fugue with Bedbug. The award “is intended to recognize and encourage writers who have made a literary mark, but who are entering a crucial point in their writing career,” says the Writers’ Trust website.
Turza receives $50,000 and a two-week, self-directed residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
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The Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada, has announced the 10 writers who have made the long list for the award, according to Quill & Quire.
The award champions literary merit published by smaller presses. The sole Canadian author to make the list was Toronto’s Miranda Schneider for her debut novel Iris Among the Dead, published by Toronto’s Book*hug Press.
Arkansas-based Padma Viswanathan, who hails from British Columbia, also made the list for her work translating Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia’s On Earth as It Is Beneath.
The prize is now in its fourth year; the five-book short list will be announced Feb. 24.
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The third Giller Mantella Scholarship is now accepting applications for one of three $10,000 scholarships for Indigenous, Black and racialized writers. The funds go towards helping winners start or continue full-time studies in creative writing, English literature or writing courses.
Applications are being accepted until April 2; for more see wfp.to/iny.
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CBC’s Canada Reads returns this April, with five books being championed by a range of panelists to see which title reigns surpreme.
The panelists and the contending books are: filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, championing A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt; hockey podcaster Steve Glynn, supporting Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard; Tegan Quin (of Tegan and Sara), espousing The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor; actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz, advocating for Iain Reid’s Foe; and BookTok personality Morgann Book, heralding It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard.
The program runs from April 13 to 16 and will be hosted by Ali Hassan.
winnipegfreepress.com/bensigurdson
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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