Lara's Diary by A. Gavazzoni is a suspense novel that deals with crime, love, jealousy, sex and abuse in life of two discouraged women. The plot begins in Miami with the main character, Simone, on a hot vacation, trying to escape her problems or at least take a break. She's a sex therapist who tries to rebuild her life after being kidnapped by a hostile serial killer. She ends up meeting a handsome, dark stranger who wants to win her heart. However, Simone is already running away from her close friend Edward, who wants to claim him. Eventually, she decides to have some fun and live a little on the wild side with the hot stranger. However, Simone is unable to leave her work at home. This is how we become acquainted with the secondary character, Lara, through a diary that she must read to help a grieving client. Lara is a successful architect who reveals her terrible twisted past to us by compiling it all in a journal to reflect on her experiences. The heroine reveals her traumatic and abusive childhood and how it affects her adult life. We explore why Lara adheres to the BDSM lifestyle she practices and why she keeps others at arm's length. Lara and Simone face love, jealousy and betrayal while trying to put the pieces of themselves back together. And they each have to decide whether to let in the men who are completely in love with them. Or push them away because of their horrible traumatic past. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Lara's Diary is the second book in Gavazzoni's Hidden Motives series. The theme of the story deals with the after-effects of abuse. Gavazzoni shows two women fighting to get their lives back together after escaping violent situations. Not everyone reacts systematically to abuse and the author demonstrates this with the characters of Lara and Simone. I have to give a trigger warning for Lara's story. If you have been a victim of abuse or cannot read the details of a child being sexually abused, then this is probably not a novel you should read. Or prepare yourself to not be able to finish the book. I rate this book 4 stars out of 4. It received a 4 because of its incredible writing, strong character development, and excellent thriller and suspense storyline. You don't have to worry that you won't be able to enjoy the story because of poor grammar. I love how Gavazzoni aligns Lara and Simone's stories so that they mirror each other at certain points. We see women experience different forms of abuse and how these experiences prevent them from functioning normally in their everyday lives. They struggle to confide in others and fall in love while trying to escape their horrible past. This confirms the sympathy and empathy that Simone's character describes throughout the book when reading Lara's diary. The book is 606 pages long and the story progresses at a good pace. There was no “hurry to the point” or “want to move on” moment while reading. And the switch to a first person point of view to tell Lara's story is nice. Lara's column reads like a book, so you get two incredibly written books in one thanks to this technique. When it comes to character development, Gavazzoni does an amazing job of giving depth to his characters. We experience a breathtaking example of this with the character of Lara. The author realistically depicts the emotional and mental breakdown of an abused child. It's so surreal that.