ABOUT FRANKIE
Writer. Sports fan. Dog mom. Chaotic at best.
I write steamy, funny sports romance about athletes and blue-collar heroes who fall hard for one person and have zero chill about it.
The Northside Rebels is my series -- five interconnected standalone hockey romances about a team of underdogs in Millhaven, Pennsylvania who can't buy a win but keep showing up anyway. The banter is sharp. The spice is high. The teammates are ridiculous. The feelings are real.
I played college soccer (Division II, midfielder, the knee injury is a whole thing). I watch more hockey than is probably healthy for someone who is supposed to be writing. I live somewhere warm with good tacos, and I share a one-bedroom apartment with a rescue mutt named Potato who has never once been impressed by a word count.
My books are for readers who want banter that crackles, heroes who are soft for their person, and the kind of love story that makes you stay up way past your bedtime. I write in dual first-person present tense because I believe you deserve to be inside both their heads when it all falls apart and comes back together.
My writing process is approximately 40% panic, 30% coffee, 20% staring at the wall, and 10% actual typing. The math doesn't work. Neither does the process. But somehow books keep happening, and I'm not going to question it.
Frankie Kade is a pen name. The books are real. So is Potato.
POTATO
My rescue mutt. Approximately 40 pounds of attitude. Vaguely beagle-shaped. Sleeps on the couch, judges my choices, and has never once been impressed by my deadlines. She's my harshest critic and I would die for her.
"Potato looked at my manuscript, looked at me, and went back to sleep. The harshest review I've received and she didn't even use words."
What I re-read instead of writing
THE COMFORT STACK
The five books I cycle through the way other people cycle through playlists. If I'm not writing, I'm re-reading one of these. It's research. I'm researching. Shut up.
- 1
The Deal
by Elle Kennedy
"The book that made me realize hockey romance was a thing and also the thing I wanted to write for the rest of my life."
- 2
Icebreaker
by Hannah Grace
"I read this in one sitting and then immediately texted three people about it. Mental health rep AND spice? Yes."
- 3
Flawless
by Elsie Silver
"Jasper Gervais lives in my head rent-free and I'm not asking him to leave."
- 4
Things We Never Got Over
by Lucy Score
"Small town romance done RIGHT. The banter. The grump. I died."
- 5
Play Along
by Becka Mack
"If you haven't read this yet I literally cannot help you."
WHY HOCKEY?
People ask me why I write hockey romance when I played soccer. Here's the thing: I love all sports. I watch hockey the way some people watch prestige TV -- with my whole body, screaming at the screen, making my dog leave the room.
Hockey has everything a romance writer needs. Physical intensity. Protective instincts. Men who slam into walls for a living and then go home and are soft about one person. The locker room is basically a found-family sitcom. And minor league hockey? That's the sweet spot. These guys aren't millionaires. They drive used trucks. They eat at the team bar because rent is expensive and wings are cheap. They're one injury away from being done. The stakes are real.
Plus, if you don't think sports are romantic, you've never watched a team win in overtime after being down 3-1. That's a love story. I'm right.
STAY IN THE LOOP
My newsletter is where I share what I'm writing (and how badly it's going), bonus scenes, cover reveals, and whatever Potato is doing today.
Subscribe for Chaos