Hooking Up With a Rockstar
Kitt Henley
Publication date: October 28th 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
An opposites-attract friends-to-lovers romance featuring a charming, swoon-worthy rockstar hero who falls first, a fiercely independent club-manager heroine, a hometown show, a secret song, and one very compromising position.
I told him it was just a hookup. I don’t think he bought it.
JUNE: Anthony’s always been a wild good time, but even before his band got famous, I knew better than to let myself bask in the glow of that 1,000-watt smile.
He makes me feel things I don’t ever want to feel. For anyone.
So when his band went on tour halfway across the world, forgetting him was the goal, but his postcards from the road didn’t make it any easier.
And now he’s back. Playing my club, looking every inch the rock god, and reminding me what it feels like to be with him.
Under him.
But I have a club to run, a boss breathing down my neck, and no room for distractions. This is my chance to prove myself, and unlike my mother, I’m not about to let some guy derail my life.
Three nights.
That’s all I have to survive without letting my guard down.
Without losing myself.
Without wanting him.—
Soulmates: Two bands. Three shows. Four happily ever afters.
Hooking Up With a Rockstar is a complete romance novella with no cliffhanger. This story can be enjoyed as a standalone or read as the second book in the Soulmates interwoven rockstar romance series.
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EXCERPT:
“How are you doing on your part of the list so far?” I ask, situating myself on the barstool directly across from June.
“Doing good.” Her eyelashes flutter a little. She’s working hard to keep her attention on the bottles she’s probably pretending to count, but her eyes keep darting in my direction. “Everything’s ready to go for ticketing and admission, and the staff are all confirmed for tonight.”
“OK, fabulous. Sounds like the perfect time for the two of us to grab a bite to eat.”
“Oh. Thanks, but I’ll get something later.” She angles her body away even further.
She’s adorable.
June’s making me work for it, that’s for sure. She’s a tough nut to crack, so I wasn’t expecting her to toss her panties at me or anything, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping she’d be a little more receptive. But that’s OK. We’ve got three whole days together, and this time I’m playing the long game.
“My treat.” I slide over one stool and inch myself back into her line of sight. “How about a quick sandwich?”
“Oh, I don’t know…” She finally turns to face me, looking skeptical.
“Come on, Chicago,” I tease, lowering my voice. “What. Are you afraid I’m gonna put the moves on you?”
She rolls her eyes. “I freaking know you will.”
“No. This is a professional lunch outing.”
“Uh-huh. Sure it is.” She shakes her head, smiling. “Yeah, all right. But just a quick bite.”
“Absolutely.”
She reaches for her coat and we step outside. I swear it’s even colder than it was this morning, and it takes my eyes a minute to adjust to the bright sun after spending all day in the club.
“We could grab barbecue sandwiches at that place around the corner,” June says.
“Actually, I heard there’s this great place a couple of blocks down. Follow me.”
The truth is I know exactly where we’re headed. It’s the diner where June and I used to go sometimes after closing up the bar.
The first time she asked if I wanted to get a bite to eat after work, I thought she was asking me out on a real date. We were sitting at that diner, facing each other across the table, when she first started telling me about all the different bands she was into. Eclectic stuff. She could appreciate things in the music that most people never even notice. That was when I realized she was someone special.
As we make our way down the sidewalk, I can’t help but feel giddy. It’s good to be walking through the city side by side with June again.
We round the corner and I slow down as we approach the restaurant.
“Oh, I see what you did here,” she says. “A trip down memory lane, huh? I recall being promised a quick sandwich.”
“But if you’ll remember, June, the service here is incredibly speedy,” I reassure her with a wink, and she rolls her eyes.
We score our usual cozy table by the window and put our sandwich orders in right away to speed things up.
June leans toward me, resting both hands at the edge of the table and giving me a little scowl as the server pours us each a cup of coffee.
“I can’t believe you brought me back here,” she says, shaking her head. “You’re hilarious. You know that?”
“It’s one of the things you love most about me.” I grin.
“That’s debatable.” She’s giving me one of those feisty June expressions that I’ve missed so much.
“Well, you guys sure have been getting around this past year.”
“Oh, you’ve been paying attention?” I wink.
“I did receive thirty-eight postcards.” She gives me a sideways glare, and my heart does a flip-flop. She actually read my cards.
“Ahh, but who’s counting?” I tease.
“Right.” She nods slowly, but her cheeks flush pink.
I pause, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “You know, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this past year.”
“Yeah? About what?” She takes a sip of her coffee.
“About us, actually,” I say softly.
That must’ve caught her off guard because those dark eyes lock right on mine, and her cheeks flush a deep shade of pink.
“Oh.”
“Sorry. Is that weird?”
“No, I mean, it’s fine,” she says, dropping her voice a little. “It’s just—I’m worried we got our wires crossed somewhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“Last year—when we hooked up—I didn’t mean for it to be anything more than one night.” She’s watching my eyes closely now.
“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” I say.
“I know. I really fucked that up. I should have been clear about what I was looking for from the start. That wasn’t fair to you.”
I shrug. “Nah, you’re OK. We didn’t make any promises that night.”
She gives me a little smile. “Well, thanks for saying that. But I shouldn’t have ghosted you. We’ve been friends a long time, and you deserve better.”
“OK. But I get it. It was intense, what happened between us.”
She stops mid-sip, almost choking on her coffee. “Err, umm—hmm? What do you mean?”
“The two of us. We’re something else together. I know you felt it too.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” Her pupils dilate and her lips part a bit, the way they do when she’s turned on.
“It wasn’t just a hookup, June.” I let my tone drop down low, just the way she likes it. “No matter what you want to tell yourself.”
“Um, no, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was,” she tries, but her voice is breathless, and her hands are trembling. “Just…a hookup.”
“If you say so, Chicago,” I tease, giving her a wide smile.
Author Bio:
Kitt Henley writes short, spicy contemporary romance with relatable characters, a touch of humor, and tons of heart. Never one to make it through a good romance (or cookie commercial) with dry eyes, Kitt’s heartstrings are easy to pull on. When she played in rock bands and crunched numbers in the Seattle tech world, those waterworks weren’t an asset, but after a friend suggested she try writing romance, everything clicked into place. From the moment she sat down to write her first novel, she knew she’d found her calling.
When she’s not wrangling words in her tiny bedroom office, Kitt loves to spend time with her high school best friend (a.k.a. her rockstar husband) and their two ridiculously funny boys. She’s still holding out hope for that family band someday, but in the meantime she’ll happily settle for camping trips, board games, long walks with friends, and watching lots and lots of thrillers.
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Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree 