I feel slightly unhinged for saying this but I seriously miss Lara. That's what this book has done to my mind. It's odd that I say that since it took me a couple of chapters to want to read about her. Oh and that's nothing against the author, writing or the book. It's just that I was far more interested in reading about Simone.
But that seemed to change pretty quickly and I became equally interested in both characters. Actually there is not a character in this book that I wasn't interested in, this book is fascinating and I was delighted to find out that this was just book #1 in the trilogy.
I love how the author has surprises in the book but does not tease you with a bunch of red herrings, I seriously loved that. The book is so interesting that you just have to soak up each page because there is so much there. Some things haunted me, some things amused me, some things made me cringe, some things made me want to cry, some things made me angry and some things shocked me... everything a book should do for a reader.
The story, the characters, the writing, the scenes, I can go on and on.
The writing style of this author really makes this book something special.

Behind the Door by A. Gavazzoni is an erotic thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story is about a woman that is a psychiatrist for people with sexual disorders. She meets a man that is a lawyer and needs her help. The drama and suspense ensue from there. I enjoyed reading this book because Gavazzoni is a master of keeping you in suspense. She holds your interest from the first page. The main characters were thought out and brought to light little by little throughout the story. The plot was well written and held my interest the entire time.
The story starts out with the main character Simone giving a lecture at a conference when this man interrupts her to ask her questions. She seems peeved by this and tell him to wait until the end. They meet up after, and he asks for her help. She eventually agrees and reads the story of the man that he is defending. It is a back and forth with flashbacks of the story of what happened to the women in the journal and Simone’s life. Eventually, things start to go bad for Simone because she is helping this man. The story ends with a lot of conflict and drama that leads to a satisfying ending.
The thing I like the most about the story was the twist. I did not see that coming at all. I was pleasantly shocked. I also loved that Gavazzoni did not give us all the information about her characters all at once. She let us find out about them slowly. Revealing the characters slowly makes for a better read all around. Another thing I liked is how the story played out. The reader is dropped into this world of sexual behaviors and left to fend for themselves. Being dropped into this world makes the reader stop and thinks about what problems people have out there are serious. This world gives the reader an insight into what happens when a person is traumatized early in life.
The thing that I did not like about the story is that it was a little slow for my taste. It could have moved just a little bit faster to get to the end game. The only other thing that I did not like was the fact that the secondary characters were not as fleshed out as the main characters. Giving them a little bit of a backstory would have helped with the story. I believe that it would have helped the reader to understand some of the things that went on in the story, and gave them a better vision of why certain things were being done.
I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. The reason behind this rating is that the author gave us this fantastic book about sexual behaviors that keep you on the edge of your seat. A. Gavazzoni is an amazing author that delivers a great story and great characters. I would recommend this to anyone the is interested in this world. This is not a book for the faint of heart or the younger readers under 17. I cannot wait to start reading Lara’s Journal the second book by Gavazzoni.

A Gavazzoni contacted me to read this book and I’m really glad she did. I’m not sure if she’s read my blog, but if she has I can see why she thought I’d enjoy it. Yes it had some graphic sex scenes in it (be prepared for way more than Fifty Shades of Grey). However the focus of this book was the psychology behind the characters which is something I really enjoy. Even in my job I love to be challenged. I even commented that I was getting bored at work recently because it was all making sense and I had to quickly get some easy stuff done due to a really tough deadline.

With the boring work having to be done I found myself constantly thinking about what could possibly be driving these characters, why were they reacting in certain ways? How were they all linked? Why did my gut tell me that such and such a character had more to them than it sounded like? So this definitely kept my mind active when I really needed it.

We start off this book with Simone who is a psychiatrist lecturing in New York and was interrupted by a lawyer; Carl; which I thought was odd. Lawyers don’t tend to hang around those types of conferences, and if they do want to speak to a psychiatrist then they’d make an appointment or call them to their office. Then when he didn’t pressure her to drop everything and focus on what he needed to meet his court deadline, it made me wonder what was going on. Not that you’ll find out until right near the very end!

Due to Carl approaching Simone to help him with his court case the book takes two different approaches. One is Mark’s story about Lara which he has written as a manuscript while the other is the murders happening in Simone’s home town that start to impact her in her day to day life and her psychiatry practice. At this point I started to wonder if the two stories were intertwined or if this was just the beginning of a series to really explore both avenues.

I won’t go into what happens in this story too much because I think it’d ruin the intensity for you. But basically someone starts murdering women in Simone’s home town while she’s working on the manuscript Carl gave her. The murderer even leaves a dead body on Simone’s doorstep which freaks everyone out. And eventually Simone is kidnapped and tortured by the murderer. While held by them she figures out who they are and is able to report them to the police when she is rescued days after her kidnapping took place.

Meanwhile we get to read Mark’s manuscript alongside Simone (this is where all the graphic details are) to find out what actually happened between Mark and Lara. Mark sounds like a decidedly normal and kinda boring guy, while Lara sounds like she has a LOT of mental issues that have been left unresolved that she doesn’t seem to want to work on. Simone diagnoses her as sadomasochistic with ADHD tendencies that resulted in an addiction to adrenaline. That addiction is what seems to control her life as we know it and ends up being what killed her.

The thing that I really liked about this book that a few other books I’ve read recently hasn’t really done when talking about these kinds of topics is that it showed the bad as well as how to combat it. Yes, Lara’s mum was awful and sold her off and didn’t act like a mother should. However her friends and the rest of her family supported her in any way that they could, including supporting her to leave those situations. Unfortunately for her it seems it was all too late to “fix” what happened, but it was good to hear about others that are willing to do the right thing. Including getting restraining orders, which I feel many people in those situations are too scared to do. I also liked the fact A. Gavazzoni explored how these events impacted those around Lara which is something most people tend to shy away from.

So although the sex scenes were a bit too graphic for my liking, I really liked the fact that Simone then explored the psychology behind these behaviours. In these situations it’s the psychology, the thought process and the analysis that really gets me involved and hooked. And A. Gavazzoni nails this aspect of her writing and I love it. I got so hooked on the what and why the events occurred that I almost ditched my boyfriend on a Friday night to finish the book! Which is unheard of for me, especially since it was game night for my footy team which I always watch.

If you like brain teasers and can get through the sex scenes I think you’d really enjoy this book just like I did.

I have read both of the author books in March of 2017. Her books address child abuse, sexual abuse, healing from abuse, drug abuse, and so much more.

I delayed this review for both of her books are personal to me. I still not ready to share my story. I apologized. I just say in my past I danced with the Grin Reaper so many times, we became bedt friends and I meet his family. Life could be worst.

I am putting this review for both of her books. Again, too personal to get into. If you been through this and things like it, read this book. Again, it help the healing. Especially if you have nightmares still like me.

🙏🇺🇸