Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Lara's Journal: A Sizzling, Psychological Suspense (Hidden Motives Book 2) by A. Gavazzoni


Lara's Journal: A Sizzling, Psychological Suspense (Hidden Motives Book 2) by A. Gavazzoni

Simone Bennet is on a long vacation, trying to heal from the trauma she suffered at the hands of a serial-killer kidnapper. After looking death in the face, she tries to develop a new outlook on life—live in the moment!

Carl, the charming lawyer, is back, asking once more for Simone’s help, this time in analyzing Lara’s journals, which were discovered by her siblings after her death. In her own words, Lara divulges all her secrets, and reveals a dramatic world of betrayal, passion, and the most unusual sexual behaviors, exposing the beautiful architect’s troubled life.

As Simone tries to deal with the contents of Lara's haunting diaries, one of her patients gets himself into a bit of legal trouble, forcing Simone to return early from her vacation. Although she's happy to be back on her home turf, she finds herself surrounded by a whole new set of problems.

A killer is out there, and this time, he seems to be after the people Simone cares about most. Suddenly, people around her are dying, a stalker/admirer keeps showing up at all the wrong times, and Simone’s dear friend Edward has a new girlfriend—forcing Simone to analyze her feelings for him and her attraction to Carl.

Cold Coffee Review: Lara's Journal by A. Gavazzoni is a continuing story begun in book one titled Behind The Door. Those of us following this series know it is a sizzling psychological, erotic romance, suspense thriller that will keep you turning the page.

In book two, Simone is still struggling with Post Traumatic Stress disorder while continuing to treat her patients that suffer from sexual behavior disorders. While in book one, the reader was privy to Mark’s journal, in book two we swing back and forth from Simone’s life and clinal practice to looking over her shoulder to read about Laura’s life through her writings as Laura opens with this: “They say everyone has a story to tell, and I suppose that’s probably true, but some people’s stories are more bizarre than others. I would like to tell you mine. If I had to choose a genre for my life story, I’d have to pick erotica…maybe a little romance…with a healthy dose of horror thrown in for good measure… It’s definitely not a fairy tale, although I did have a fairy godmother, of sorts…but more on that later.”

Conflicted between her own life, her patients and Laura’s Journal that seem to have a hold on her, Simone would put the diary down only to ask questions, sleep, dream. Get work done and return to the journal throughout the day until exhaustion forced her sleep. When reading Simone would lose track of time like readers with a great suspense thriller. Her psychology driven thought process caused her to question: “Madness, how old was that girl? How could she ever lead a normal sex life when all she had learned was wrong, depraved, and twisted? 

Simone remembered Lara’s words from one of Mark’s diaries: “I was forged!” That was the word—the girl had been through hell and damnation, and all her values were corrupted. She hadn’t had any moral standards. Then again, her entire life had been based on what Arthur had told her was correct, so how could she?”

For a stimulating read and insight into sexual dysfunction, I invite you to purchase both Behind The Door and Lara’s Journal before moving on to the third book in this series titled The Brilliant Game.  I purchased this book from Kindle on July 30, 2018 and this review posted on July 29, 2018.

Genre: Literature, Fiction, Erotica, Mystery Thriller, Psychological Suspense




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  Behind The Door: A Sizzling, Psychological Suspense
(Hidden Motives Book 1) by A. Gavazzoni

When Lara dies at the hands of a Manhattan lawyer during a sex game, his defense attorney, Carl, hires Simone, a psychiatrist, professor and author of books on sexual behavior to help him buttress his argument that Lara’s death was accidental. 

To help his defense, Carl’s client has written a detailed account of his steamy, year-long relationship with Lara. Carl gives the text to Simone for analysis. While evaluating the presumed killer’s writing, Simone continues to receive psychiatric patients with sexual disorders and unusual fantasies, and to research strange sexual behavior for her next book. 

Meanwhile, Simone’s clinical partner, friend and research colleague, Edward, is working with the police to capture a serial killer who is torturing and killing women. From hot and unusual sex and interesting psychiatric patients, to the swing houses of New York and Paris, this fast-paced page-turner is a blend of mystery, suspense, humor, romance and erotica.

Cold Coffee Review: Behind The Door is book one in Author A. Gavazzoni’s ‘Hidden Motives’ series. This book is a “sizzling psychological suspense” thriller with both erotic romance structured in an adult theme with strong language.

Descriptive writing, strong characters and interesting life situations kept me engaged throughout the thirty chapters. Interesting plot that continually keeps the reader on his or her toes as the story switches between ‘Present Day-Simone’ and ‘Mark’s Journal’.

Simone, an attractive, intelligent and dedicated psychiatrist, author and professor with a large client list of both men and women suffering with sexual behavioral issues such as paraphilia and hipoxiphilia. Maybe you, as with me, before I read this book don’t really know what paraphilia and hipoxiphilia is. Both of these represent sexual behavior that involves fantasy and controlled strangulation with consenting partners.

Life steps up a beat for Simone when Carl, a Manhattan defense attorney hires her in a murder trial. If reading ‘Mark’s Journal’ isn’t enough stimulation for Simone, her “clinical partner, friend and research colleague, Edward, is working with the police to capture a serial killer who is torturing and killing women”.

I would like to share a quote with you from chapter three ‘Present Day-Simone’ to whet your appetite for the read.

“Addiction to adrenalin. The woman warned right at the start that she had a pathology. Her addiction could have been the result of any number of causes.  Normally, some kind of disorder brings it on. The addict seeks intense thrills, sometimes danger. The worst part is that such people have little sense of real danger. They don’t wish for death but they don’t fear it either.

Maybe Carl was right. Lara hadn’t been murdered; her death had been an accident. Accidents happen to people with that kind of problem. What could have been Lara’s pathology? Then there was Mark, a man apparently with his feet on the ground who was drawn to the flame. Many men like him are attracted to psychopaths. But he was rash. And maybe Lara wasn’t psychopathic. It was hard to diagnose with so few pages. But a shrink’s mind can’t read something without diagnosing it. Maybe the whole tale was made up.”

If you have an adventurous mind, I recommend this stimulating read. The story is told well enough that it might end up on the silver screen on day. If you enjoy this book, I encourage you to purchase the next book in the sequel titled ‘Lara’s Journal’.

I (Theodocia McLean) endorse ‘Behind The Door’ by A. Gavazzoni as the genre I might have missed. Maybe murder, maybe a mutual sexual consent that took an unexpected turn? I will leave you with the task of answering this question and follow the trail of a serial killer at the same time. I purchased this book on May 10, 2017 and the review was completed on May 12, 2017.

Genre: Literature, Fiction, Erotica, Mystery Thriller, Psychological Suspense




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 The Brilliant Game (Hidden Motives Book 3) by A. Gavazzoni
 
Psychiatrist Simone Bennet feels like a pawn on a chessboard—as if some invisible, master chess player is toying with her life and the lives of the people she loves and cares for.

A series of horrific events—several murders and Simone being tortured at the hands of a serial killer—culminate in the kidnapping of her daughter and have turned Simone’s life upside down.

Struggling to stay afloat in the middle of a sea of chaos, Simone continues to receive her psychiatric patients and do more work for the New York attorney, Carl, while local police, the FBI, and Edward—Simone’s boyfriend, best friend, and business partner—are working hard to locate her child.

Simone is analyzing another set of Lara’s journals, and she becomes dragged into a vortex of sex addiction, suffering, and Lara’s struggle for some kind of balance in her life, while Simone battles an inner fight against her mixed feelings for the enigmatic lawyer.

Filled with twists and turns, this final book in the Hidden Motives trilogy reveals a deranged, steamy, and disturbingly brilliant game of sex, murder, and mystery and chronicles a woman’s conflict between love and reason.

Fasten your seat belts before you embark on this roller coaster and prepare for the most unpredictable end.

Genre: Literature, Fiction, Erotica, Mystery Thriller, Psychological Suspense




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Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author A. Gavazzoni

A. Gavazzoni is a Brazilian author. She just won The Golden Book Award- Readers Choice for her first novel Behind The Door.

Adriana is a lawyer, a former professor of law and a writer of novels and legal books, but she is also a voracious reader.

She speaks four languages: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. When she is not practicing law or writing, she enjoys many interests and is a very active person. She loves to dance (Tango) and workout.

She loves to travel, loves good wine, and has been studying astrology for fifteen years. She paints and loves to cook.

She has two poodles -Gaia and Juno -and loves all animals. She is an aunt of four nieces who enjoy to paint and cook alongside their aunt. She lives in Brazil and is in the process of writing her next novel.

Adriana invites readers to visit her website/blog anytime for updates of upcoming books and events. http://www.agavazzoni.com

Interview:

What makes you proud to be a writer from Brazil? Brazil is a blend of cultures, religions, colors and freedom that inspired me to write novels based on all kinds of subjects, from psychiatry to sex, with no bias and no judgments.

What or who inspired you to become a writer? My legal career, the necessity to tell my clients’ stories for judges made me a story teller but also my passion for books, I’m a voracious reader and I love a good story. I believe my love for books inspired me to write.

Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? My upbringing was great, my parents always gave me a lot of freedom to do things my way, they were always very supportive of my decisions and that helps a lot when you decide to start a different career like writing. To have a supportive family allows me to fly.

When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? Two years ago, but I have been writing since I was a kid.

What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? To be able to do what I love most in life, tell stories.

What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? Publishing brought new and wonderful friends among writers and readers to my life, people from all corners of the world. That’s the best in my opinion, to have friends.

How many published books do you have? Four. A legal book published in Brazil and Three Novels.

Please list the titles of all your books: Behind The Door, Lara's Journal and The Brilliant Game.

Please tell us the genre of each of your books. Both are Psychological and erotic thrillers.

Do you come up with your title(s) before or after you write the manuscript? The first one I was in the middle when the name came to me and the second one I knew from the beginning. Now I'm in the process of writing a new novel and I don't have a title in mind yet.

Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? My genre is a blend of psychological and erotic thrillers. I’m a huge fan of mysteries and thrillers, because I love to be surprised. I love the unpredictable, so thrillers are my genre.  I wanted my novel to have all right ingredients like Passion, mystery, unpredictability, love and drama that only psychological and erotic thrillers can have.

What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? If you want to be an author, start writing for yourself and don’t mind about pleasing people, think about writing for your own pleasure and you will have a masterpiece.

Who is your favorite author and why? So many marvelous writers inspired me…to start with, the classical ones, such as Emily Bronte, Stendhal, Dumas, Saad Marquis, Margaret Mitchell…and modern ones, such as Morris West, Marc Levy, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, John Grisham, and Colleen McCullough…but I could list a hundred here…the poems of Alisson Matos—a Brazilian writer, and poetry from Baudelaire to Allan Poe.


Professional Website Link
http://www.agavazzoni.com

Professional Blog Link
http://www.agavazzoni.com/blog


Twitter Link: @a_gavazzoni
 
Google Plus Link: A. Gavazzoni


Authors Keys To Success
http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

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