I thought I’d already said my goodbyes. After four books following the band Eleven, finishing Encore felt like the end of the road.
But Eden Finley had one more stop before the Sadenverse sent me off: Rockstar Hearts, a duet of novellas starring Cash Me Outside, the band that keeps turning up in the background of the Famous series.
READ MORE: ‘Love is more than words’: Why ‘Fandom’ is the heaviest, and best, Famous book yet
It feels fitting that Finley, an Australian author herself, closed out the series with a parting gift rather than just walking away. My copy arrived signed: “Immy, you rock.” A nice way to start a book about a rock star.
Cash Me Outside is fronted by Cashton “Cash” Kingsley on vocals and guitar. Lead guitarist Sebastian “Seb” Rose, drummer Jasper and bass player Greg round out the lineup, with Thorne Young managing the band.
Finley suggests reading Rockstar Hearts between Spotlight (book two) and Fandom (book three). I read it after Encore instead, well out of order. It still worked.
Much like the Breakaways novellas in Finley’s Fake Boyfriend series, these two stories are self-contained enough to slot in wherever you land in the timeline.
Eden Finley’s Famous Series:
Locked Heart: Cash and Locke
“Ten years ago, I left my heart with a boy when I moved to LA to become a rock star,” the book’s blurb says of Cash’s story. He and his high school boyfriend made a pact: if Cash ever headlined the Death Valley Music Festival, the boy would show up to watch.
Cash is originally from Boulder City, Nevada, and fans of the series will already know him as Ryder Kennedy’s producer and one-time hookup in Spotlight.
READ MORE: ‘Spotlight’: the Famous book where the nanny turns out to be the star
The boy from his past is Sherlock “Locke” Emerson, also from Boulder City: red hair, green eyes, freckles, and a Wharton School degree now put to use as a financial manager at a Las Vegas casino.
I’ll admit it. Despite Locke’s insistence on going by his nickname, I fell hard for the name Sherlock. Cashton got me too.
Locke is also in the middle of finalising his divorce from a person named Shannon when the story picks up, which adds a real layer of complication underneath the will-he-won’t-he-show-up premise.
Thorned Heart: Seb and Thorne
The second novella flips the power dynamic. Band manager Thorne Young has spent years keeping things strictly professional with lead guitarist Seb Rose, who has no idea how his boss really feels.
“Being in love with a client sucks,” the book’s blurb says of Thorne. A leaked nude, an overzealous stripper and a group winter vacation force the issue.
That vacation lands at Mason Nash’s place near Lone Mountain, Montana, over Christmas. Finley suggests reading this novella before Mason gets his own book in Fandom, but I’d genuinely recommend the order I stumbled into: reading it after.
READ MORE: ‘Love is more than words’: Why ‘Fandom’ is the heaviest, and best, Famous book yet
Mason is in a rough spot here, disconnected from the rest of Eleven and still stewing over a disastrous first kiss with Denver. Knowing a happy ending was already coming for him made watching him struggle a lot easier to sit with.
Cashton and Sherlock turn up again in Thorned Heart, their relationship going strong. Seb also brings along a character called Lemon, known to his friends as Andrew, though his time on the page is limited. I would have liked to see more of him.
At the close of the book, Finley thanks her readers directly, crediting Seb’s fans with the push that finally got Mason’s book, Fandom, written.
Rockstar Hearts: Cash Me Out Duet is available for purchase on EdenFinley.com.
What’s next
With Rockstar Hearts done, I’m officially caught up on the Famous series and its one bonus duet. Next stop in the Sadenverse: Mike Bravo Ops.
'Never make a bet with Jordan Brooks': Why ‘Encore’ is the Famous finale that finally blew my mind
Spoiler warning: This review discusses plot points from Encore, its bonus scene On Tour With Eleven and earlier books in Eden Finley’s Famous and Fake Boyfriend series.