Fans of HBO Max's spicy hockey series Heated Rivalry won't have to wait until 2027 to see its stars romantically reunite. Per Variety, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams will be collaborating to narrate Ember and Ice, an erotic romance for the subscription-based audio erotica platform Quinn. Unlike Heated Rivalry, which finds the actors playing rival hockey players, Ember and Ice is a three-episode event that will see Williams and Storrie playing fae princes from feuding courts.
The official synopsis reads as follows: "When Finn, the dutiful heir to the Lunare throne, is forced into close quarters with Dane, a reckless Solari prince, their long-standing rivalry begins to blur into a dangerous attraction." Ember and Ice contains numerous tropes that will appeal to Heated Rivalry die-hards and gay erotica fans alike, including forbidden romance, enemies-to-lovers, rival kingdoms, and forced proximity. Storrie and Williams even poke fun at their Heated Rivalry characters in an Ember and Ice preview, with Williams showing up with his hockey gear only for Storrie to remind him that they're recording "romantasy smut" for Quinn.
"We feel incredibly lucky to work with them," Quinn founder and CEO Caroline Spiegel told Variety. "The way they connect with audiences and show up in the cultural conversation is exciting to watch." Spiegel is referring to the surprise success Heated Rivalry saw at the end of 2025, when it became the most-watched original series on the Canadian streamer Crave and shot to the #1 spot on HBO Max. This might not sound surprising for a show about competitive hockey, but when you factor in the queer romance at its center, Heated Rivalry's popularity marks an end-of-year surprise as unexpected as it is refreshing.
'Heated Rivalry' Fans Can't Get Enough of Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie
The surge of interest in gay hockey stars Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov has thrust Williams and Storrie into the cultural spotlight, with each actor's Instagram account amassing over a million followers in the weeks following Heated Rivalry's release. Fans are now foaming at the mouth for a second season of smutty shenanigans, but since it's far too soon for production on Season 2 to have even begun, impatience abounds. Fortunately for fresh Williams and Storrie converts, Ember and Ice offers the perfect temporary placeholder, and with a plot close enough to Heated Rivalry that fans can use it to hold themselves over until filming begins. In fact, the Exclusive Preview of Ember and Ice Episode 1 has already been played over 35K times on Quinn – proof that six episodes of Heated Rivalry is far from enough.
Williams and Storrie's reunion marks an intriguing partnership in an industry that often finds actors not wanting to be pigeonholed or typecast. Their decision to partake in another steamy romance is clearly in service to the fans who have made Heated Rivalry a household name, which further serves as a smart marketing tactic heading into Season 2's production. Unlike some of Quinn's other audio stories, which break the fourth wall and insert the listener into the story, Ember and Ice will erect that wall and keep the romance between Finn and Dane as its focus. With the visuals Williams and Storrie have already provided on Heated Rivalry, it won't be hard for fans to visualize what Finn and Dane get up to. The first two episodes of their forbidden affair can be accessed as of Dec. 30, with plans starting at $4.99/month on Quinn's annual plan or $7.99/month if listeners pay monthly. If that's not enough for impatient Heated Rivalry fans, fear not: there are plenty of other steamy shows to enjoy in the meantime.
