You can't escape Heated Rivalry these days, with the Crave/HBO series and its stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie taking over talk shows, fashion shows, awards shows, and your algorithm. But if you thought Netflix's sweet YA series Finding Her Edge may be a distraction, author Jennifer Iacopelli reveals that the two shows actually have several connections, including the appearance of the same actor.
"I say we have three things in common with Heated Rivalry," Jennifer tells HELLO! "We are an ice sport, and we are extremely, proudly, Canadian television above everything – the amount of talent and level of professionalism that the Canadian television industry has shown me in the last year has been incredible and I could not be happier that we are part of that wave of Canadian TV coming out right now (Both Finding Her Edge and Heated Rivalry were filmed in Ontario, outside of Toronto) – and lastly we have Aidan Shaw."
© Aidan ShawAidan played Kolya, a Montreal Metro who played alongside Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), and in Finding Her Edge, Aidan plays Weston, the hockey boyfriend of figure skater Elise Russo, whom Jennifer calls "the unsung hero of our show".
"He has the most adorable plotline," shares Jennifer.
"He plays a hockey bro named Weston, and he could have been such a one-note character because he does not exist in the book, so I have extra love for this character because he has this amazing journey. By the end, you're like, 'You're so much more than this goofy hockey bro that we thought you were in episode one,' and it was such a fun journey to watch, and he is fantastic in it."
© COURTESY OF NETFLIX
© NETFLIXJennifer adds: "And to be fair, a lot of yearning. Our yearning manifests differently when the yearning becomes too much — we are a family show – but it is genuine teenage yearning that I adore, the way you see it in The Summer I Turn Pretty, or All the Boys."
Finding Her Edge is based on the 2022 novel of the same name and follows the three Russo sisters as they navigate the pressures of their family's figure skating legacy; Adriana trains with new partner Brayden while still holding a candle for her ex-partner Freddie; older sister Elise struggles with the pressure of carrying on the Russo name amid injuries, and younger sister Maria, who is desperate for her father to realize her passions lie elsewhere.
© NETFLIXJennifer, 41, has six books under her belt, and says it has been "surreal" to watch her story get adapted for the streaming giant.
"This was not my best-selling book, let alone a bestseller, but you keep plugging away at a career, and here we are, and it's truly surreal," she shares.
© NETFLIXAlthough Jennifer had no input in the series, showrunner Jeff Norton kept her updated, and Jennifer helped the writers flesh out backstories of which the novel's protagonist, Adriana, had no knowledge.
"There's definitely portions of the book that are still in there, but there are changes, and I think most of them are serving the TV narrative," says Jennifer, who is also a full-time librarian at a high school in Long Island, New York, and was inspired to fall in love with the love triangle trope thanks to Dawson's Creek.
© NETFLIX"I am an elder millennial and a Dawson's Creek girlie, so I grew up in the era of Pacey and Joey… and Dawson," she laughs. "But I wanted to challenge myself because I love a love triangle, but I don't love it when it's super obvious who she should choose, or when it is 100% telegraphed.
"There is a battle between romance genre conventions, where you have to have the happily ever after, but also the tension that is required in a love triangle. And sometimes the tension gets lost because you need that happily ever after at the end. Instead, I wrote what I like to call a romantic drama where she's going to have a happily ever after, but it might not be the one you necessarily would pick - but she's having her happily ever after."
