'Harley will always love you': How 'Pop Star' changed my mind about Jet's ex

Meet Eleven, the fictional boy band at the centre of Eden Finley's four-book spin-off, and the frontman I swore I'd never root for.

Oct 12, 2026

Spoiler warning: this review contains mild spoilers for Hat Trick and Pop Star.

I did not like Harley Valentine.

When we met the boy band frontman in Hat Trick, the fifth book in Australian author Eden Finley’s Fake Boyfriend series, he was Jet Jackson’s ex – and I thought he was selfish, needy, and that Jet was far better off without him.

So when Finley signed my copy of Pop Star with the line “Immy, Harley will ‘Always love you’”, I wasn’t sure the feeling would be mutual.

One book later, I’ve come around.

What is Pop Star about?

First published on April 8, 2020, Pop Star is the first of four books in Finley’s Famous series, and it swaps the locker rooms of her sports romances for the music industry.

Harley is the former lead singer of Eleven, a guitarist and singer-songwriter who has gone on to a solo career that includes two Grammys.

The fame comes at a cost. After what the book’s blurb calls “a close call with a rambunctious fan”, Harley finally gives in and hires a full-time, live-in bodyguard.

Enter Nolan “Brix” Brixton Reins.

Brix spent six years in the US Army – his father, Samuel, is a former army officer – before joining private security outfit Mike Bravo Ops.

Protecting people is not what the company usually does, but Brix needs the money and the pop star is offering a lot of it.

“I’m doing it for the money and nothing else,” he insists in the blurb.

He has no idea who Harley is, either.

The story plays out over a few months in California, moving between Los Angeles, Malibu, Palm Desert, Rancho Palos Verdes and San Bernardino, and like every other Eden Finley book I’ve read so far, it’s told from both men’s points of view.

If you’ve read a bodyguard romance before, you know how long Brix’s vow of professionalism lasts.

“Professionalism. I’m gonna live it. Breathe it. Enforce it … Mostly,” the blurb reads.

Who are Eleven?

Eleven are the fictional boy band at the heart of the Famous series – “the most successful boy band on the planet”, according to the blurb.

There are five of them: Harley Valentine, Ryder Kennedy, Denver Smith, Mason Nash and Blake Monroe.

By the time Pop Star opens the band has broken up, and Harley, who has been famous since he was a teenager, is the one still filling arenas.

Fake Boyfriend readers have met them before. Eleven toured with Radioactive, the Joystar Records band fronted by Jet (or Jay, professionally), and that’s when Harley and Jet dated.

The band’s name has a nice origin story, too.

In her note at the end of the book, Finley thanks reader Jeannie Cooper for suggesting the name Eleven, and Samantha Blundell for naming Harley, Ryder, Denver, Blake and Mason.

How Harley won me over

Finley knows exactly what readers thought of Harley after Hat Trick.

In the same note, she writes that he “was misunderstood by a lot of people and his actions were somewhat selfish”.

“I always knew Harley had a good heart and deserved his own happily ever after,” she writes at the conclusion of Pop Star.

She was right, and I was wrong.

Seen through Jet’s eyes, Harley was the needy ex. In his own book, he’s a loveable and passionate boy band member who has spent his entire adult life with millions of people screaming his name and very few people actually knowing him.

Brix is one of the few who does, and that’s what makes the pairing work.

The Mike Bravo crew

Pop Star also doubles as an introduction to Brix’s colleagues at Mike Bravo Ops, including Iris and boss Trav.

Finley writes that the crew have “been in my head for years” and will be getting a series of their own.

I haven’t read Mike Bravo Ops yet, but I’ll get to it once I finish the Famous series.

I don’t know much about it, but I’m curious to see whether we get to explore more of Brix’s backstory.

The verdict

This was a solid start to a new series.

I think I understand the world of music a little better than American hockey and football – the backdrops for Finley’s Puckboys and Fake Boyfriend series – so I felt right at home.

Next up is Spotlight, which follows Ryder, who Finley says just wants to slink away from fame and protect his daughter from the pitfalls of Hollywood.

That gets harder when Harley Valentine is trying to get the group back together.

I can’t wait to see where the series goes.

But surely all five members of Eleven aren’t gay … surely.