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Tell Me You Love Me - Book Tour and Giveaway

4/7/2021

34 Comments

 
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Tell Me You Love Me
by Kathleen Stone
Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

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What would you sacrifice to protect someone you love?

In 1965 April Toulane’s life is turned upside down on her fifth birthday when her mother marries a man she’s known for only two weeks. The life she’d known is forever changed with the addition of a stepfather and a five-year-old stepbrother who terrorizes her on a daily basis. After a family tragedy the young siblings are thrust into the Hollywood spotlight, surrounded by people whose very foundation is based on secrets and lies. Struggling to grow up and find their way in a world where child stars are forever manipulated and exploited, the siblings form an unbreakable bond vowing to always protect each other when the adults entrusted to take care of them fail at every turn. “Tell Me You Love Me” is the story of April and Auggie Fairbanks, the most sought after faces in show business throughout the sixties and seventies, maneuvering their way through the lies and corruption to learn the truth about their parents and searching for the love and acceptance they so desperately crave.



Goodreads * Amazon

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​ I don’t remember my father. He died shortly after my birth in 1960 and my mother took that as license to pretend he never existed. Sometimes I fantasized that I was the product of magic, or that I would grow up to be a fairy princess, or perhaps a world-renowned dragon trainer. And on my fifth birthday she turned my world upside down by marrying a somewhat older man she’d known for two weeks. His name was Clark Fairbanks, and with him came his five-year-old son, August.
It was a simple ceremony at the courthouse, and my mother looked beautiful in her light blue dress with matching jacket and pumps. Her short blonde hair was topped with a pillbox hat adorned with a small, pearl accented veil and she wore just the right shade of pink lipstick. Clark was dressed in a fancy black suit, his son August dressed the same, but I paid little attention to them as I only had eyes for my mother. I had never seen her look so happy before. She had a glow radiating from her face that I knew I didn’t put there. Even at five years old I knew this man must have been something special, but I was far too young to understand. All I knew was my intimate family of two had increased to four — including two males no less — and I felt like I was adrift at sea never to find shore again.
Clark took all of us out to a fancy restaurant for lunch after he and my mother were married and I sat rigid in my chair, trying to keep the itchy material of my brand new dress from scratching my skin every time I moved. August was sitting across from me and had not spoken a single word. His short, dark blond hair was combed neatly away from his face, revealing a spray of freckles over his nose. He scowled at me, his piercing blue eyes sending chills over my skin. Suddenly he kicked his leg out under the table, connecting with my shin and sending me into meltdown mode. I began to cry in that silent way you know a child is in true distress, tears streaming down my cheeks but no sound coming out of my mouth.
“Shut up, crybaby,” August mocked me.
Clark immediately grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hissed, “Auggie, you apologize this instant!”
He continued to scowl at me but said nothing. Clark stood up and yanked him off his chair, disappearing. My mother pulled me into her arms and petted my hair lovingly.
“He’s confused, April,” she said. “Just like you are. We’ll get through this. We’re a family now.”
The shock and pain of his kick subsided a bit and I found my vocal cords once again. “He’s mean, Mommy, I don’t like him,” I cried.
“You only met him an hour ago,” she said, wiping my tears away with a napkin. “I promise it’ll get better.”
I was still sniffling when Clark returned with a red-faced August, who stood in front of me and said, “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for, Auggie?” Clark asked.
“I’m sorry I kicked you,” he grumbled.
I just nodded acceptance and hugged my knees to my chest, having no idea what else to do. My mother immediately pushed my legs down and reminded me I was wearing a dress. Clark and August returned to their chairs and I continued to pick at the food on my plate, not interested in any of it.
After lunch we were whisked away to Clark’s expansive estate in Beverly Hills, our new home. Clark and my mother each held one of my hands as they led me through the house to my bedroom, which not only housed the few personal items from our old apartment, but dolls, toys and clothes beyond my wildest imagination. I was far too young to understand any of it and I just wanted to go back to our apartment and play in my old room. No Clark. No August.
It had been a long, exhausting day, and my mother and I were finally alone when she got me ready for bed that evening. She tucked me into bed and kissed my forehead and I asked, “Mommy, when are we going home?”
“This is our new home, honey,” she replied with a smile. “Clark and August are our new family now.”
I looked around my new bedroom with wide eyes; everything looked disproportionately huge in my young mind, with frightening windows and drapes and doors that looked like they wanted to trap me inside without a way of escape.
“I don’t like it here,” I whispered, terrified.
“It’ll be strange for a while, but I promise everything will be all right,” she insisted. “Clark is a very nice man and he’s going to take care of us.”
I burst into tears and my mother pulled me into her arms, caressing my hair and promising that everything was going to be okay.


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Kathleen has been a freelance writer since 1999 and now writes full time. Her work has appeared in Doll World Magazine, Apolloslyre.com, The Lake County Journals, Trails.com; USA Today (travel), Livestrong.com (lifestyle), Essortment, eHow, Answerbag, Examiner.com, Suite101 and YahooVoices. She is the author of the award-winning novel Whispers On A String, the Head Case Rock Novel Series (Head Case, Whiplash and Haven) and Tell Me You Love Me. She also has short stories published in the Secrets: Fact or Fiction I & II anthologies.


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

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34 Comments
Tara Zarecky
4/7/2021 07:54:21 am

This sounds like a great read and I love the cover! Thank you for the excerpt.

Reply
Kathleen Stone link
4/7/2021 12:44:21 pm

Thank you, Tara! If you read the book, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Reply
Wendy Jensen
4/7/2021 04:25:17 pm

The book details make this sound like a powerful read.

Reply
Kathleen Stone link
4/7/2021 04:45:31 pm

Thank you, Wendy! Based on feedback I'm getting from readers, they agree with your sentiment that it's powerful and gripping. I hope you'll give it a shot.

Reply
Sherry
4/7/2021 04:40:41 pm

I love the excerpt and the cover.

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/7/2021 04:46:48 pm

Thank you, Sherry! I'm absolutely in love with the cover, which was designed by my boyfriend based on a particular scene in the book. He turned my vision into a reality and I couldn't be happier.

Reply
Bea LaRocca
4/7/2021 05:07:02 pm

I like the cover, synopsis and excerpt, this sounds like a good read. Thank you for sharing your book and author details and for offering a giveaway

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/7/2021 05:08:53 pm

Thank you, Bea! I hope you’ll give the book a chance. It’s getting a lot of fabulous feedback.

Reply
bn100
4/7/2021 08:17:51 pm

different kind of cover

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Kathleen Stone
4/8/2021 12:37:49 pm

Thank you! The cover depicts a scene from the book, and it was designed by my boyfriend Ken who made my vision a reality. I really love how it turned out.

Reply
Ann Fantom
4/8/2021 04:39:37 pm

This sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.

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Kathleen Stone
4/9/2021 04:01:55 pm

Thank you, Ann! The cover is based on a scene from the book, which was brought to life by my talented boyfriend. I absolutely love it!

Reply
Jessica Hays
4/8/2021 06:22:58 pm

The book looks great!

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/9/2021 04:02:29 pm

Thank you, Jessica! I hope you'll give it a try because I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Reply
David Basile
4/8/2021 07:05:48 pm

Looks like a good book.

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/9/2021 04:02:59 pm

Thank you, David! I hope you'll give it a try -- I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Reply
beth shepherd
4/13/2021 07:13:38 pm

This looks like a great read. Thank you

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Kathleen Stone
4/13/2021 10:45:38 pm

Thank you, Beth! I hope you’ll give my book a read. It was definitely a labor of love.

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aaron r
4/13/2021 10:45:31 pm

Sounds really interesting maybe it will be something that she grows to really like to have a new step father and brothe.r

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Kathleen Stone
4/13/2021 10:47:31 pm

Thank you, Aaron! April becomes very close with her stepbrother Auggie and they have a bond no one can break.

Reply
Danielle Day
4/22/2021 06:02:25 am

It looks like a good read for the summer!

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/22/2021 07:30:10 pm

Thank you, Danielle! I hope you’ll give it a read!

Reply
LYNN CLAYTON
4/22/2021 06:13:54 pm

oh this looks good

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/22/2021 07:31:01 pm

Thank you, Lynn! I hope you’ll give it a read!

Reply
Audrey Stewart
4/26/2021 05:45:08 am

Kathleen Stone is a new author to me, but I look forward to reading this. I always love meeting new authors. Thanks to this blog for the introduction.

Reply
Kathleen Stone
4/26/2021 11:17:03 am

Thank you, Audrey! I hope you'll give it a read as I'm always interested in hearing my readers' thoughts!

Reply
Heather Mahley
5/2/2021 04:53:43 pm

This looks so good

Reply
Kathleen Stone
5/2/2021 09:58:50 pm

Thank you, Heather! I hope you’ll give it a read.

Reply
Stephanie Liske
5/2/2021 07:16:48 pm

I like the book details.

Reply
Kathleen Stone
5/2/2021 09:59:40 pm

Thank you, Stephanie! I hope you’ll give it a read.

Reply
Anita Jude
5/7/2021 07:57:36 pm

I think the sounds very interesting

Reply
Kathleen Stone
5/8/2021 09:47:10 pm

Thank you, Anita! I hope you’ll give it a read.

Reply
Buddy Garrett
5/7/2021 10:24:59 pm

The book sounds like a great read.

Reply
Kathleen Stone
5/8/2021 09:48:03 pm

Thank you, Buddy! I hope you’ll give it a read.

Reply



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