Contemporary Authors

• Frat Girl - 2018 Harlequin, London, England
• The Dating Game - 2019 Inkyard Press, London, England

• Amazon -

  Kiley Roache is a college student who spends her time reading, writing and justifying the purchase of cold brew coffee. She has worked for the Chicago Tribune's teen publication, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Huffington Post Teen. Originally from Chicago, she currently lives in Stanford, California in a house with 60 of her closest friends.

  Frat Girl is her first novel, and she's currently hard at work on her second for Harlequin TEEN. Visit her online at www.kileyroache.com.

• Stanford University website - https://news.stanford.edu/thedish/2018/03/30/stanford-senior-turned-novelist-talks-about-her-book-frat-girl/

  Stanford senior turned novelist talks about her book, Frat Girl
  by Kate Chesley on March 30, 2018 1:45 pm
  Categories: Great reads

  Menlo Park’s Kepler’s Books and Magazines recently helped senior KILEY ROACHE launch her new novel, Frat Girl. Here is how the website Goodreads describes the book:
  “For Cassandra Davis, the F-word is fraternity – specifically, Delta Tau Chi, a house on probation and on the verge of being banned from campus. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For the DTC brothers, the F-word is feminist – the type of person who writes articles in the school paper about why they should lose their home.

  Kiley Roache, author of the book Frat Girl
  “With one shot at a scholarship to attend the university of her dreams, Cassie pitches a research project: to pledge Delta Tau Chi and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior. They’re frat boys. She knows exactly what to expect once she gets there. Exposing them should be a piece of cake.
  “But the boys of Delta Tau Chi have their own agenda, and fellow pledge Jordan Louis is certainly more than the tank-top-wearing ‘bro’ Cassie expected to find. With her heart and her future tangled in the web of her own making, Cassie is forced to realize that the F-word might not be as simple as she thought after all.”
  Roache talks about her new book, her inspiration for writing it and her experiences at the university.
  Where did the inspiration for Frat Girl come from? How much did you draw from the Stanford experience?
  The initial idea for Frat Girl came about when a male friend from my freshman dorm jokingly bet me $50 dollars to rush a fraternity. Although I did not end up taking him up on this, I started thinking about what that experience would be like for the first woman to join such a traditionally masculine group.
  The book is set at a fictional school called Warren University, and while I share some similarities with the main character, Cassie Davis, there are also many ways we are different. The characters, setting and plot of the story are all made up.
  However, I would say that the emotional truth of the story is based on my experience at Stanford. Like the characters in the book, throughout college I have made deep friendships, fallen in love, taken intellectually exhilarating classes, been encouraged by rock star mentors and found my true self. I think that the emotions I have felt and the lessons I have learned throughout Stanford are reflected in the book, and I hope will resonate with people.
  How has being at Stanford affected your writing and your writing aspirations?
  Being at Stanford has definitely affected my writing for the better. I have been writing fiction since the seventh grade, but when I first arrived at Stanford I was experiencing a bit of writer’s block. I think I was nervous about college and worried my writing was not good enough. But then I took English 9CE, Creative Expression in Writing, with BRITTANY PERHAM. This class was all about experimentation, and we were encouraged to break out of our shells and try new styles and forms. This class helped me get out of my rut and reminded me why I love writing.
  Are you graduating this spring? If so, what comes next? I understand you have been selected as a 2018 Daniel Pearl Memorial Journalism Intern?
  I am! After graduation, I will be writing for the Wall Street Journal in London as the 2018 Daniel Pearl Memorial Journalism Intern. I hope to continue writing throughout my career, both as a journalist and a novelist.
  What kind of initial external and internal reaction has the book gotten?
  I have been so blessed to have the support of an amazing group of people at Stanford. I have always said that the friends I have made in college are like a second family to me, and I actually dedicated Frat Girl to them. They have cheered on my writing from the beginning. Many of my friends have preordered the book and will be reading it for the first time when they return for spring quarter, so I am very excited to hear their thoughts.
  Outside of Stanford, the response has been positive as well. A number of young women have reached out to me to say they are excited about the book and relate to it. Christa Desir, an award-winning author whose work I have admired for years, called it “a sweet, subversive deconstruction of frats and feminism” and New York Times bestselling author Julie Cross called it “refreshingly honest.” This sort of feedback has meant a lot to me. Since the story was inspired by a conversation between friends in a dorm hallway about gender roles and college life, I am very excited that the book may contribute to such a conversation at Stanford – and beyond.

  2018 Daniel Pearl Intern: Kiley Roache

  Kiley Roache has been chosen as the 2018 Daniel Pearl Memorial Journalism Intern.
  Roache is a senior majoring in Political Science. She has previously interned at the San Francisco Chronicle and was part of the Chicago Tribune’s teen publication The Mash. She also writes novels for young adults that address complex social and political issues.
  A committee of Stanford Department of Communication faculty members evaluated applicants for the internship. The Wall Street Journal made the final decision.
  The internship was established to commemorate the work and ideals of Pearl, a Stanford graduate and Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Pearl, a 1985 graduate of the Department of Communication, was kidnapped in Karachi on Jan. 23, 2002, while working on a story retracing the steps of “shoe bomber” Richard Reid. A month later, on Feb. 21, his captors released a videotape of his slaying. He was 38.
  Roache’s Winning Essay
  I was sixteen years old when I first realized I wanted to be a journalist. I was at journalism camp for The Mash, the teen publication of the Chicago Tribune, and reporter Rick Hogan was telling a story about visiting a grade school for a story. When asked to draw a picture of something they wanted in the future, the kids drew the usual — money, ponies, astronauts. One girl drew a tree.
  Mr. Hogan thought this was odd, but didn’t pay much attention. When he left the school building, he looked down the street. He saw the housing project where many of the students lived, and he saw tons of concrete. But there were no trees, nothing green. So he decided to take the child and her teacher on a field trip. They blindfolded her until they arrived at the farm-like Lincoln Park Zoo. When they removed the blindfold she asked, “Did we crash?” The reporter responded no. “But isn’t this heaven?” she said. It was the city she had lived in her entire life.
  I still think of that story every time I sit down to conduct an interview or write an article. I carry with me what I learned: that while it is easy to transcribe the narrative handed down from the powerful, the voices that most need to be heard in a community are typically those that are too often ignored. Last winter, I wrote a story called “A Neighborhood Underwater” which exposed that the only area zoned for mobile home parks in Redwood City was also the only FEMA-designated flood hazard zone.
  My reporting exposed institutional problems, but my writing primarily focused on those affected — the residents of Le Mar, a mobile home park that flooded regularly, even when California was in a drought. The piece included details like the princess dress a young girl wore as she played with toys only recently replaced after flooding.
  Last spring, I reported the story of Yasin Rahimi, a refugee and former translator for the US Army in Afghanistan who now drives for Uber in the Bay Area. He told me about the challenges he faced leaving his home, where his former job for the Army made him a primary target for the Taliban. But he also described the small, everyday joys of his new life and job, including the conversations he has with his customers that break down stereotypes about Afghanistan.
  While working on these articles, I saw the power of storytelling to paint humanity onto the page and build empathy across class and culture.
  The power of Daniel Pearl’s writing was built equally by his investigative reporting ability and his talent at sharing little “quirky” truths about diverse individuals. He brought pieces of the lives of ordinary people, across cultures, onto the front page.
  This is what I aspire do with my career. To show that individuals carry powerful stories and contain multitudes, whether they live a neighborhood or a world away.

• Kiley Roache website - http://www.kileyroache.com/

  Kiley Roache is a student at Stanford University and author of FRAT GIRL, coming March 2018 from HQN TEEN, a division of HarperCollins.

  She has worked as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune’s teen publication The Mash and the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFGATE. She has blogged at Huffington Post Teen.

  She enjoys reading, writing and Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Some days she wants to change the world, others she just wants to talk about boy bands.

• Huffington Post - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/kiley-roache

  Kiley Roache
  High school senior from Chicago
  Kiley is a freshman at Stanford University originally from Chicago. She is a proud alumni of The Mash, the Chicago Tribune’s teen publication. She enjoys reading, writing and Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Some days she wants to change the world, others she just wants talk about One Direction. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @KileyRoache

Roache, Kiley. Frat Girl

Hannah Grasse
Voice of Youth Advocates. 41.1 (Apr. 2018): p66.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 4P * J * S
Roache, Kiley. Frat Girl. Harlequin Teen, March 2018. 448p. $18.99. 978-0-373-21234-7.
Meet Cassie: college freshman, ardent feminist, and Stevenson Scholarship recipient. In exchange for the scholarship, she must submit a research project on misogyny in fraternities. To gain firsthand experience, Cassie goes undercover, rushing the most sexist frat on campus. Cassie must conduct her project covertly, revealing her study to no one. Initially, her suspicions are confirmed: binge drinking and degrading language are rampant. Over time, however, Cassie finds that her new brothers are not all chauvinists. She develops sincere relationships, both platonic and romantic, with the brothers. As she begins to see them as more than just a social experiment, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep her project a secret. Ultimately, Cassie must decide whether her crusade is worth destroying genuine friendships.
The most satisfying part of the story is watching Cassies impact on the brothers and vice versa. Through brief, meaningful conversations with her frat brothers and her advisor, Cassie develops a more mature notion of feminism. Cassie can get overly pedantic, but supporting characters point out when she becomes hypocritical. Her presence in the frat house is somewhat unrealistic, as it magically converts some of the brothers from chauvinists into feminists. It is, however, heartwarming to watch Cassie's relationships with the brothers grow from acrimonious to truly fraternal. Roaches depiction of frat life is surprisingly tame. Although there are several ubiquitous drinking scenes, almost all sexual encounters occur off-page. Recommend this book to older teens who enjoy social justice-themed literature with a lighthearted side.--Hannah Grasse.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Grasse, Hannah. "Roache, Kiley. Frat Girl." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2018, p. 66. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536746175/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a972b238. Accessed 26 June 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A536746175

Roache, Kiley: FRAT GIRL

Kirkus Reviews. (Mar. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Roache, Kiley FRAT GIRL Harlequin Teen (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 3, 27 ISBN: 978-0-373-21234-7
What happens when you let a feminist into a frat house? Cassandra Davis is about to find out.
When Cassandra's conservative, working-class Midwestern parents--who don't see the value in a woman's getting a college degree--are unable to pay the tuition for her dream school in California, she applies for and receives a full-ride scholarship on the basis of her research proposal: an undercover study of Delta Tau Chi, a fraternity plagued by accusations of sexism. At first Cassie is thrilled about the idea of taking the organization down, but after becoming the first successful female pledge in the American fraternity's history, she finds that her frat brothers are not all villains--in fact, many of them are capable of change. In her debut novel, Roache has created a narrator with a strong, relatable voice as well as a cast of nuanced characters full of pleasant surprises and believable personal growth. However, her prose often slips into the didactic, referencing theory dominated by white feminist icons ranging from Lena Dunham to Andrea Dworkin and Tina Fey. Mentions of the global South disappointingly rely on a victim mentality that oversimplifies women's struggles there, and her portrayal of working-class families feels condescending. The few characters of color in the book are two-dimensional.
Blind spots around race, culture, and class distract from an otherwise thoughtful, entertaining, and politically relevant coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 16-adult)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Roache, Kiley: FRAT GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530650917/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ec31bfc3. Accessed 26 June 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A530650917

• Words Like Silver
  http://www.wordslikesilver.com/review/spring-mini-review-frat-girl-by-kiley-roache/
  Word count: 1301

  Spring Review: Frat Girl by Kiley Roache

  Hey y’all!
  It’s Grace here today on the last Friday of our first week of spring term. The past few days have largely been spent getting myself together for the last term. I’ve been putting together my research questions for my singular class, settling into my role as Vice President of the student body, starting music lessons, and attempting to pitch an independent work major to the school. Lots of meetings and not enough sunshine, but everyone already feels the easygoing, classic vibe of our favorite time of year here.
  While I’m not yet quite as much outside as I would like, I did spend most of last week lounging beachside and binging beach reads. I’ve gone ahead and put together my reviews from spring break, along with mood boards to accompany them.
  I consider myself very lucky to have been able to catch up on so many reads that were on my list.

  Novel: Frat Girl by Kiley Roache | Goodreads
  Release Date: March 27, 2018
  Publisher: Harlequin Teen
  Format: Hardcover
  Source: Bought
  Sometimes the F-word can have more than one meaning….
  For Cassandra Davis, the F-word is fraternity—specifically Delta Tau Chi, a house on probation and on the verge of being banned from campus. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For the DTC brothers, the F-word is feminist—the type of person who writes articles in the school paper about why they should lose their home.
  With one shot at a scholarship to attend the university of her dreams, Cassie pitches a research project: to pledge Delta Tau Chi and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior. They’re frat boys. She knows exactly what to expect once she gets there. Exposing them should be a piece of cake.
  But the boys of Delta Tau Chi have their own agenda, and fellow pledge Jordan Louis is certainly more than the tank top wearing “bro” Cassie expected to find. With her heart and her future tangled in the web of her own making, Cassie is forced to realize that the F-word might not be as simple as she thought after all.
  The atmosphere of the book is a fun one because it’s pretty conversational — in the vein of other successful college-age reads I’ve experienced. It doesn’t fit the “usual” standards of YA, but instead incorporates lots of real elements of modern teenage life like group messages, party habits, the balance between societal issues and characters’ own lives. To put it lightly, the type of “relatable” content you see in memes as opposed to YA books. I appreciated the breath of fresh air. The images that jump out at me the most involve a hardworking, studious girl; her (sometimes excessive) alcohol consumption to keep up with the boys; the atmosphere of the artsy crowd; and the all-American type of classic fraternity culture that formed the backbone of the book’s conversation.

  My review of Frat Girl covers a few different aspects of the book: the discussion it provokes, the negatives that I hated, and the positives that made it (ultimately) redeeming and worthwhile in my eyes.
  Frat Girl discusses an interesting topic because it’s one that’s enormously contentious in modern culture: the role of Greek life, particularly in relation to big issues like racism and sexual assault.
  As a disclaimer, I’m part of the Greek system. I love my sorority, but I do recognize flaws in the way that fraternity and sorority life operates within the bigger picture. I think most of the “get rid of the Greeks” philosophies ignore the nuances of it, and I wouldn’t advocate to get rid of it. But I’m willing to explore the line that Frat Girl considers: how much of our problems are from the system, and how many are from deeper cultural and social issues? Within the first few chapters, I was enormously frustrated with how shortsighted and judgmental that Cassie, the main character, was and nearly considered putting the book down; however, I found the premise intriguing enough to continue.
  I was much happier with it once the diversity within the Greek system was fleshed out, how people are not defined exclusively by their organization. The main character, Cassie, was super aggressive at first; she got better as the book went on. While perhaps the Greek arc is mean to show character development, I was not a fan with some elements of how it was presented. At some points, it seemed cliché, but in others, it was spot-on. Also, she was so bitchy about sorority girls and really mean, despite calling herself a feminist. Every fraternity and sorority was painted as exactly the same.
  At some points, Frat Girl felt like it was trying too hard to be funny but some elements had me laughing. Some of these included practicing shotgunning at 5 A.M. with sparkling water to practice for pledgeship (or playing water pong), or Cassie’s snappy email to the fraternity offering to teach them a sex-ed lesson from a girl’s perspective, answering questions that boys had. Those elements shone.
  Also, I loved the truth of her discussion of parts of college like FOMO, like balancing friends from home and friends at school, trying to keep her academic work from being too overwhelming or worrying about classes. I loved the balance of her noticing that things are bad or problematic, but still enjoying them — and thus being morally conflicted. Roache got the balancing act down perfectly.
  As the book went on, it did have many genuine and likable moments. Lines that I underlined because they were spot on about drinking culture or relationships or the strange dizziness of being away from home for the first time or growing up. Also, some of her points about sexual and gendered culture were thoughtful, although I wish they’d been presented differently. In some ways, it reminded me a bit of Winger, which is one of my favorite books.
  Pacing-wise, the middle of the book could have had more going on, but some elements worked with the slowness. I loved her slow relationship building with the rest of the fraternity, as well as some of the friendships. The romance was sentimental and a little too sweet for my taste because Jordan, the love interest, didn’t seem to have much personality. But I loved how Roache tackled some of the bits of college relationships vs. high school relationships. Like, I loved Cassie’s hookup regret and confusion, and the figuring out what her own freedom and standards were. The end felt a little too quick and neatly for such messy setup and contradiction, but it was definitely a read that hit its stride later on.
  Her rants about feminism and (often intellectual and academic) thoughts were clustered in ways that felt preachy, a few pages I’d find myself skimming over. I think those could have been broken up in significantly better ways; the mini-essays of sorts disrupted the pacing and felt condescending.
  Frat Girl is like a social justice version of She’s the Man and Animal House that occasionally felt flat, but had enough breadth to keep me engaged. It’s super hit or miss. So yes, Frat Girl is flawed in a lot of ways. I don’t know if I’d buy it again, but I’d check it out from the library or borrow it just for exposure to some of the perspectives and conversations. And parts of it are giddy and fun.

• Twirling Pages
  http://www.twirlingpages.com/2018/03/27/review-frat-girl-by-kiley-roache/
  Word count: 1076

  REVIEW + DISCUSSION: Frat Girl, by Kiley Roache (+ Feminism)

  March 27, 2018

  Frat Girl by Kiley Roache
  Published by Harlequin Teen on March 27th 2018
  Pages: 384
  Amazon // The Book Depository
  Goodreads
  Sometimes the F-word can have more than one meaning….
  For Cassandra Davis, the F-word is fraternity—specifically Delta Tau Chi, a house on probation and on the verge of being banned from campus. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For the DTC brothers, the F-word is feminist—the type of person who writes articles in the school paper about why they should lose their home.
  With one shot at a scholarship to attend the university of her dreams, Cassie pitches a research project: to pledge Delta Tau Chi and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior. They’re frat boys. She knows exactly what to expect once she gets there. Exposing them should be a piece of cake.
  But the boys of Delta Tau Chi have their own agenda, and fellow pledge Jordan Louis is certainly more than the tank top wearing “bro” Cassie expected to find. With her heart and her future tangled in the web of her own making, Cassie is forced to realize that the F-word might not be as simple as she thought after all.
  woow, so where do i even begin with this book? first of all, it definitely challenged my expectations. based off of the description, i was definitely anticipating more of a wattpad-y type of book (ex. My Life With the Walter Boys, After . . . etc.) which are more flimsily-concealed fantasies that you read for fun. not that there’s anything wrong with them, but numerous tropes and plot points are recycled over and over until you don’t even know the characters’ names and think of them as Bad Boy or Famous Guy instead. but i digress.
  and i’ll be honest, there were some aspects that were wattpad-y (i’ll get to that later), but Frat Girl made me think. think about what it means to be a feminist, including all the politics and nuances, and how finite details and perspective counts.
  as a result, that made cassie a really difficult character to like. so many aspects of social justice is gray area, and by basically being the only feminist representation in the book (considering she lived in a frat house), meant her opinion had to address many different facets of feminism. so for example, when she consistently referred to sorority girls as “barbies” or trivialized them in general, it definitely rubbed me the wrong way. but cassie ultimately somewhat redeems herself by addressing her wrongdoing (even though i kinda felt like she kept doing it??) and i really appreciated how roache addresses the fact that yes, feminists can be totally wrong but also, there’s always room for improvement.

  also! special thank you to this book for addressing “white feminism” and why intersectionality is important. <3 additionally, i had a hard time grasping who cassie was exactly as a character. because at the beginning of the novel, she seems more introverted and describes how much she hates the “guys’ girl” she has to become, and how a lot of that persona is really just inherent sexism. i reeaally loved the part where she addresses that, which is why i felt kinda cheated when she literally BECAME the guys’ girl? the further the novel progressed, the less as though i felt like she was pretending and it eventually morphed into her personality (which is where the wattpad-y aspect kicks in; a lot of those stories revolve around a typical guys’ girl). there are examples that i won’t include in this review for the sake of length and idk maybe i missed something but that was just my general impression. as for other characters, jordan was swoon-worthy enough and i absolutely adored the slow-burn relationship. i also really really liked jackie and leighton, and wish they were included more in the story? or what about the other sorority girls cassie met in the washroom? i mean i know she lived in a frat house, but i also want to read more about the girls! it’s also worth mentioning that the writing was really smart. that’s the best way i can describe it. the level of analysis and from kiley roache’s twitter thought put into every action of the character was almost palpable in a way? and that’s how i could tell it wasn’t like your typical wattpad story. Frat Girl was not some type of fantasy story about living in a house full of hot guys, but rather a thoroughly contemplative and almost critical approach to addressing internalized misogyny we as a society tend to ignore, especially when it comes to “hot guys”. or you know, the rich & white & privileged. unfortunately, that led to some pages reading as almost like a lecture which brought me out of the book at times, but i’d ultimately rather it be mentioned than the novel be completely seamless. with all that being said, Frat Girl was soo addictive. i honestly couldn’t put the book down and spent every spare moment reading a few pages if i could. kiley roache’s writing is funny and easy to follow and Frat Girl just left a really good feeling in my heart. overall, i highly recommend you consider adding this book to your list. 🙂 & LASTLY: i looked up kiley roache to see more about her and her personal connection to the story and found stanford ’18 in her twitter bio??? like she literally published a book in college and if that isn’t goals i don’t know what is. she’s also done a ton in journalism & just wow she is killing the game. go kiley!!! Rating Report Plot Characters Writing Pacing Cover Overall: 4.4 wow, so this was a really long review but i just had so many thoughts on this. special thanks to netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRAT GIRL BECAUSE IT’S RELEASED TODAY! so go out and get your copy! and what about you? what do you think about tackling feminism (an extremely broad and nuanced topic) in a novel, and how that affects the way you read the story? leave a comment below.