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Saturday Night on the Red Carpet: A Companion Book to the Frankie Girl Series
What started in the trailer park ends on the red carpet.
Five years after triumph over corruption, Frankie and Alex Mulligan stand as Philadelphia's power couple. Mayor and literacy advocate. Red carpet premieres and Oscar buzz. But beneath the glittering surface, their family of seven faces impossible challenges.
Ten-year-old Rocky discovers the truth about his biological father. Adopted daughter Bella suffers violent nightmares that threaten their peace. Baby M&M needs life-threatening heart surgery.
But this family has something trauma can't unbreakable love forged in the fires of hardship.
Then Rocky finds Kat's book about the Howard Children's Home. Questions about dangerous Larry O surface. Family secrets demand their reckoning.
And the past refuses to stay buried. Safety becomes uncertainty. Love becomes the only weapon strong enough to heal.
Alex Mulligan's heartbreaking journey through foster care, Kat Walker's transformation from tragedy to investigative triumph, Larry O's dark descent into manipulation and the documentary premiere that celebrates justice on the red carpet—these interconnected backstories reveal the hidden forces that shaped the characters you've grown to love.
Sometimes the strongest families are built from broken pieces. And love that survives trauma can weather any storm.
A companion book that will deepen your understanding by chapter three. And keep you reading until every secret is revealed.
Poignant, gripping, and profoundly moving, this companion collection reveals the backstories that shaped beloved characters. Saturday Night on the Red Carpet is the essential companion to Kae Wagner's The Frankie Girl Series. Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing and Demon Copperhead will be captivated by these interconnected tales of resilience and the healing power of chosen family.
Five years after triumph over corruption, Frankie and Alex Mulligan stand as Philadelphia's power couple. Mayor and literacy advocate. Red carpet premieres and Oscar buzz. But beneath the glittering surface, their family of seven faces impossible challenges.
Ten-year-old Rocky discovers the truth about his biological father. Adopted daughter Bella suffers violent nightmares that threaten their peace. Baby M&M needs life-threatening heart surgery.
But this family has something trauma can't unbreakable love forged in the fires of hardship.
Then Rocky finds Kat's book about the Howard Children's Home. Questions about dangerous Larry O surface. Family secrets demand their reckoning.
And the past refuses to stay buried. Safety becomes uncertainty. Love becomes the only weapon strong enough to heal.
Alex Mulligan's heartbreaking journey through foster care, Kat Walker's transformation from tragedy to investigative triumph, Larry O's dark descent into manipulation and the documentary premiere that celebrates justice on the red carpet—these interconnected backstories reveal the hidden forces that shaped the characters you've grown to love.
Sometimes the strongest families are built from broken pieces. And love that survives trauma can weather any storm.
A companion book that will deepen your understanding by chapter three. And keep you reading until every secret is revealed.
Poignant, gripping, and profoundly moving, this companion collection reveals the backstories that shaped beloved characters. Saturday Night on the Red Carpet is the essential companion to Kae Wagner's The Frankie Girl Series. Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing and Demon Copperhead will be captivated by these interconnected tales of resilience and the healing power of chosen family.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 26, 2025
12 people are currently reading
About the author
Kae Wagner
14 books16 followersKae Wagner is a multi-genre award-winning and best-selling author writing in Modern Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Coming-of-Age, and Sweet Romance.
Saturday Night at the Trailer Park, Book 1 in the Frankie Girl Series, is well-loved by readers and is always noted as "a page-turner," and "one you won't be able to put down."
Midnight at the Back Gate, Book 1 in the Back Gate & Beyond Series, is a Romantic Suspense, Modern Fiction story that keeps the reader "up all night reading."
When not in the world of words, Wagner sneaks off for her secret pleasure of riding horses in the Wyoming mountains.
She founded The Bold Authors Network to help Indie Authors publish and sell their books.
Saturday Night at the Trailer Park, Book 1 in the Frankie Girl Series, is well-loved by readers and is always noted as "a page-turner," and "one you won't be able to put down."
Midnight at the Back Gate, Book 1 in the Back Gate & Beyond Series, is a Romantic Suspense, Modern Fiction story that keeps the reader "up all night reading."
When not in the world of words, Wagner sneaks off for her secret pleasure of riding horses in the Wyoming mountains.
She founded The Bold Authors Network to help Indie Authors publish and sell their books.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 14, 2025
What begins as a screening of Alex’s documentary soon takes readers back to the origins of some of the most beloved and infamous characters in The Frankie Girl series.
Anyone who has read any of The Frankie Girl series knows how embedded Frankie has become into the lives and hearts of the readers. Author Kae Wagner takes that into account as she gives us a glimpse at the Frankie of today, how’s she is managing, what she is up to, and the kindness that still continues to radiate off her. But we still see her struggle as she’s vulnerable once again, and even more importantly we see how Alex recognizes Frankie’s needs before she can even ask for help as they share in a perfect union with love for one another shining through.
Once readers are reminded of the goodness in Frankie and Alex, it is only then that Wagner takes us further back in time as we unravel Alex’s childhood. We already know Alex’s passion for helping the youth and saving the forgotten children, but we don’t yet know how that passion took root, and how he came to be a Mulligan. Alex’s story is one of amazing grace, but as Wagner pivots to Larry O’s story we begin to see the winding road that has led to the man we’ve come to know.
Throughout “Saturday Night on the Red Carpet” Wagner shows her brilliance for character crafting. Giving us a backstory for not only Larry O, but Kat, Frankie’s best friend, as well. Larry and Kat are both full of anger. Anger and loneliness are key emotions throughout their stories. Anger about those lost, the outcomes they face, and a cloak of loneliness for those same reasons. But it’s how we use that anger and loneliness that defines us. It is what we do with our pain and emotions that makes us. Larry and Kat came to their anger in very different ways. Each of these characters had significantly different upbringings, and yet Kae has this way of contrasting their personalities and attitudes that shows depth through their emotional outcomes.
The way Larry O and Frankie’s paths cross, and again as Kat and Frankie befriend each other, the powerful themes of redemption once again stand out as reliance bubbles closely behind. “Saturday Night on the Red Carpet” unwinds with Alex’s compassion pouring out, the humanizing of Larry O, and Kat’s emotional story as readers bond ever deeper into the world Kae has created within The Frankie Girl Series.
Anyone who has read any of The Frankie Girl series knows how embedded Frankie has become into the lives and hearts of the readers. Author Kae Wagner takes that into account as she gives us a glimpse at the Frankie of today, how’s she is managing, what she is up to, and the kindness that still continues to radiate off her. But we still see her struggle as she’s vulnerable once again, and even more importantly we see how Alex recognizes Frankie’s needs before she can even ask for help as they share in a perfect union with love for one another shining through.
Once readers are reminded of the goodness in Frankie and Alex, it is only then that Wagner takes us further back in time as we unravel Alex’s childhood. We already know Alex’s passion for helping the youth and saving the forgotten children, but we don’t yet know how that passion took root, and how he came to be a Mulligan. Alex’s story is one of amazing grace, but as Wagner pivots to Larry O’s story we begin to see the winding road that has led to the man we’ve come to know.
Throughout “Saturday Night on the Red Carpet” Wagner shows her brilliance for character crafting. Giving us a backstory for not only Larry O, but Kat, Frankie’s best friend, as well. Larry and Kat are both full of anger. Anger and loneliness are key emotions throughout their stories. Anger about those lost, the outcomes they face, and a cloak of loneliness for those same reasons. But it’s how we use that anger and loneliness that defines us. It is what we do with our pain and emotions that makes us. Larry and Kat came to their anger in very different ways. Each of these characters had significantly different upbringings, and yet Kae has this way of contrasting their personalities and attitudes that shows depth through their emotional outcomes.
The way Larry O and Frankie’s paths cross, and again as Kat and Frankie befriend each other, the powerful themes of redemption once again stand out as reliance bubbles closely behind. “Saturday Night on the Red Carpet” unwinds with Alex’s compassion pouring out, the humanizing of Larry O, and Kat’s emotional story as readers bond ever deeper into the world Kae has created within The Frankie Girl Series.
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