Michelle Mankin writes romance that centers music culture, especially rock-star worlds, with several series that share setting and crossover characters. Order matters most inside her interconnected “Black Cat Records / Tempest” world, where later books assume you already know earlier couples and band history.
Start here (fast answer)
Safest first read (best on-ramp):
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- Love Evolution if you want the shared universe from its earliest core trilogy.
If you only want the Tempest band books:
- Southside High first, then continue through the Tempest sequence.
If you want the darker spin-off first:
- Hot Summer School Night (but it’s smoother after at least some Tempest context).
Continuity map (what connects to what)
Interconnected core world (recommended to read in order):
- Brutal Strength (also labeled inside the broader Black Cat Records sequence)
- Black Cat Records (an umbrella order that includes Brutal Strength + the Tempest-era books)
- Tempest (overlaps with Black Cat Records numbering)
Spin-offs in the same orbit:
- No Quarter (linked to the Tempest world)
Separate worlds (can be read anytime):
- Once Upon A Rock Star (its own 4-book set)
- Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances (a separate 5-book set)
- Finding Me (a separate 3-book trilogy)
- Rock F*ck Club (a separate 6-book serial-style set)
- Magic (a separate 3-book paranormal set)
Publication order by series (most spoiler-safe)
Brutal Strength trilogy (also part of Black Cat Records)
- Love Evolution: A grief-struck young woman collides with rock-star orbit, where loyalty and desire complicate every “fresh start.”
- Love Revolution: Band-adjacent romances tighten into a larger tangle as past wounds and new temptations test sisterhood and trust.
- Love Resolution: Forgiveness becomes the final battleground when old betrayals and big love demand an honest reckoning.
Optional collection
- Love Rock’ollection (The Brutal Strength Rock Star Trilogy): A bundled edition collecting the full trilogy for binge reading.
Tempest series (Goodreads series order)
- Southside High: A messy love triangle at a rough-edge high school sets the emotional DNA for what the band becomes later.
- Irresistible Refrain: A Cinderella-tinged rock romance where surviving the past is the price of a real future.
- Enticing Interlude: A Snow White–inspired romance where envy, obsession, and devotion blur into dangerous attraction.
- Captivating Bridge: A Rapunzel-shaped story where escape, control, and fierce connection collide in the spotlight.
- Relentless Rhythm: A Peter Pan–echo romance where growing up hurts, staying stuck hurts more, and love forces the choice.
- Tempting Tempo: A slow-burn rock romance where being truly seen is both the risk and the reward.
- Scandalous Beat: A rock star and a stripper gamble on something real when the hookup stops feeling disposable.
- A Winter’s Night with Tempest (novella/extra): A holiday return to the Tempest orbit where family stress, band rivalry, and old ties all resurface at once.
Optional omnibuses
- Tempest Raging: A bundled edition (Books 1-4) meant for readers who want the early arc in one go.
- (Other Tempest omnibuses exist in some storefronts; treat them as collections, not new story order.)
Black Cat Records (umbrella reading order)
If you want the widest “shared-universe” flow, this is the cleanest single numbered path:
- Love Evolution: A rock-world coming-of-age romance where grief and desire spark a new life on unstable ground.
- Love Revolution: The band’s orbit widens as attraction and history collide, forcing choices with real fallout.
- Love Resolution: The trilogy’s emotional endgame where truth finally catches up to everyone involved.
- Irresistible Refrain: A Cinderella-coded romance that deepens the shared world’s band history and emotional stakes.
- Enticing Interlude: A dark-fairytale romance where fame magnifies every secret and every craving.
- Captivating Bridge: A control-versus-freedom love story where the cost of rescue isn’t always obvious.
- Relentless Rhythm: A high-intensity romance where immaturity and pain have to be faced head-on.
- Tempting Tempo: A tenderness-forward rock romance where self-worth and intimacy move at the same pace.
- Scandalous Beat: A heat-to-heart romance that rounds out this era of the shared setting.
No Quarter (Tempest-linked spin-off)
- Hot Summer School Night: A forbidden, darker romance built around a drug-dealer hero and a line that’s easy to cross and hard to uncross.
- Breaking Her Bad: A temptation-fueled continuation where consequences arrive fast and love becomes the most dangerous decision.
Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances
- Outside: A surf-town collision romance where a famous man and an ordinary life refuse to stay separate.
- Riptide: A rock star learns that the one woman he can’t control is the one he can’t forget.
- Oceanside: A glamorous-night setup turns personal when second chances demand more than chemistry.
- High Tide: A high-pressure romance where fame, fear, and desire rise together, and somebody has to hold steady.
- Island Side: A relationship stress-test romance where isolation strips away the last excuses and forces the truth.
Finding Me trilogy
- Find Me: A midlife reinvention romance where marriage, identity, and longing crash into a single turning point.
- Remember Me: The emotional aftershocks intensify when the past refuses to stay buried and love asks for courage.
- Keep Me: A final-choice romance where commitment stops being an idea and becomes an action.
Once Upon A Rock Star
- The Right Man: A modern-fairytale rock romance where attraction becomes a test of trust and self-respect.
- The Right Wish: A Snow White–styled romance where jealousy and devotion fight for the same future.
- The Right Wrong: A Sleeping Beauty–inspired romance where private pain meets a love that won’t stay superficial.
- The Right Song: A final-chance romance where the HEA depends on owning every mistake out loud.
Rock F*ck Club (serial-style)
Because two entries share the same core title, I’m labeling them with the season notes used in descriptions for clarity:
- Rock F*ck Club (Season One): A road-trip “ranking the rock stars” setup where bravado turns into real vulnerability.
- Rock F*ck Club (Postseason One): The aftermath romance arc where the game keeps going and feelings get harder to deny.
- Rock F*ck Club 3: Season Two energy escalates as reputations, relationships, and loyalties start breaking under pressure.
- Rock F*ck Club #4: A fame-heavy romance where public image and private desire finally collide.
- Rock F*ck Club #5: A sharper, more chaotic installment where “girl power” meets the reality of messy attachment.
- Rock F*ck Club #6: The conclusion volume where the series’ emotional payoffs land and the ranking stops being the point.
Optional collection
- Rock F*ck Club Box Set (Books 1-5): A bundle edition for readers who want the main run in one purchase.
Magic (paranormal romance)
- Strange Magic: Part One: A gritty paranormal setup where danger and desire are wired into the same fate.
- Dream Magic: A dreamscape romance where power, intimacy, and control blur into one addictive pull.
- Twisted Magic: A darker paranormal romance where obsession and salvation look uncomfortably similar.
Chronological order (only where it meaningfully changes things)
For most series, “chronological” matches the listed series order above. The main exception is the Tempest world because Southside High is positioned first in-series despite being published later.
If you want the Tempest timeline to unfold from the earliest point:
- Southside High
- Irresistible Refrain
- Enticing Interlude
- Captivating Bridge
- Relentless Rhythm
- Tempting Tempo
- Scandalous Beat
- A Winter’s Night with Tempest
Recommended reading order (best balance for new readers)
If you want the connected rock-world experience with the fewest “who is that again?” moments:
- Love Evolution
- Love Revolution
- Love Resolution
- Southside High
- Irresistible Refrain
- Enticing Interlude
- Captivating Bridge
- Relentless Rhythm
- Tempting Tempo
- Scandalous Beat
- A Winter’s Night with Tempest (optional)
- Hot Summer School Night (optional darker branch)
- Breaking Her Bad (optional, reads best right after Hot Summer School Night)
Everything else (Once Upon A Rock Star, Surf/Second Chances, Finding Me, Rock F*ck Club, Magic) can be read whenever you want, because it’s not required to follow the Black Cat/Tempest continuity.
Standalone novels (verified, not part of the series lists above)
These are commonly listed as standalones in major bibliographies; they don’t require reading any series first.
- Storm: A standalone romance where a familiar rock-adjacent world gets a new couple and a fresh conflict.
- In His Eyes: A standalone spin-off-style romance that expands a side character’s perspective into a full story.
- Champion: A sports-leaning romance where drive, identity, and attraction collide under pressure.
- Ghosts of the Canyon: A 1969-set love story where music, longing, and choice shape everything that follows.
- Shooting Star: A next-generation-leaning rock romance where a shy heroine and a troubled guitarist build trust the hard way.
(Michelle Mankin has additional works and appearances in multi-author anthologies; those vary by retailer edition and are best treated as “optional extras” unless you’re collecting everything.)
Latest release status
- Most recent widely listed novel: Shooting Star (2025).
- Recent standalone noted by the author: Ghosts of the Canyon (2024).
I did not find a reliably confirmed upcoming title announcement in the same stable sources used for the orders above, so I’m not listing “next books” here.
FAQs
Do I have to read Black Cat Records and Tempest?
Not necessarily. If you only want the Tempest band arc, read the Tempest list. If you want the broader shared world foundation, start with the Brutal Strength trilogy.
Why does Southside High come first when it’s newer?
It’s placed first in the Tempest series order because it sets earlier timeline context. Reading it first improves clarity around relationships and backstory.
Where does No Quarter fit?
No Quarter is best after you’ve read at least some Tempest material, because it plays in the same neighborhood and hits harder with context.
Bottom line
If you want one clean, low-confusion path: start with Love Evolution, finish the Brutal Strength trilogy, then move into Southside High and read the Tempest run in order. For everything outside that shared universe, pick the series premise you like and start at Book 1.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.