From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata Review

 Hey ForeverBookers, 

How are you today? I hope you’re good! 

I’ve just finished reading “From Lukov With Love” by Mariana Zapata and I really enjoyed it! (I wrote this re view back in February but I never posted it)! 

“From Lukov With Love” is a sports romance. It’s told from our FMC, Jasmine’s POV. I’d say it was new adult or certainly more aimed at older teenagers/adults because of scenes at the end of the novel. Jasmine is already a figure skater before the story starts. She was dumped by her old partner, so she just skates for herself at the beginning of the book. That’s when our MMC, Ivan Lukov comes into the story. He needs a parter to skate at Worlds with and his coach thinks that Jasmine would be a good option. This arrangement is only meant to last the year, until Worlds are over, though. Then Ivan is supposed to help Jasmine find a new partner. Can he give her up? You’ll have to read to find out! 

There is a descriptive sex scene in the book as well as parental issues in “From Lukov with Love.”

Spoilers Below!

“Standing there, looking at both of them, I asked what felt like the most important question of my life because I just wanted to get it over with. Either we were doing this or we weren’t. I wasn’t good with an anticipation. I wasn’t patient. “Do we have a deal?” 

When Ivan’s coach, Coach Lee, asks Jasmine to be his partner for the next few months, to be devoted to him and skating, Jasmine isn’t sure if she makes the right decision. We see this a lot throughout the first half of the plot, Jasmine doubting herself. I thought this was sad. We see why she’s doubted her ability towards the end of the story. Ivan, of course makes her feel as though she can do anything and be anyone she wants. He becomes the hero of the story after he starts as her enemy. 

“And he hugged me. He hugged me so tight to him I couldn’t breathe, and I hated myself. I hated myself for being a hypocrite. For not being nicer. For expecting the worst all the time. I hated myself for so many things, I wasn’t sure I could count them all and survive.

       And the arms around me somehow got even tighter, until every bone in my spine was curved into every bone in his upper body.

      “You’re the best figure skater I’ve ever seen,” this man whispered directly into my ear, his hold the strongest thing I had ever felt in my life. “You are. The most athletic. The strongest. The toughest. The hardest working—“

        “I leaned forward to get away from him because I didn’t want to hear this shit . . . but didn’t go anywhere. “ you know none of that fucking matters, Ivan. None of it means anything if you don’t win.” 

Jasmine and Ivan have to do a naked photoshoot. This is a problem for Jasmine, especially at first. She’s nervous as anyone would be but it does further the plot. 

“I don’t know if I want to stand in front of him naked. That’s all. If I did it by myself, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Even total strangers, sure, but in front of him when I have to see him all the time, I don’t know.” 

I really loved how Jasmine and Ivan’s relationship developed. At first they hate each other. This is shown by how many times Jasmine swears and calls Ivan names, but by the end they understand each other. By the end of the book, when they’re at Worlds Jasmine and Ivan actually admit that they love each other. This was at first sweet, then hot (an adult part of the book). The part that I didn’t like about the book as a whole was the overall slowburn nature of Jasmine and Ivan’s relationship. I loved the development but I wish it had moved slightly quicker or that some scenes were cut. I knew that Mariana Zapata was a slowburn author though, so I knew that before I started. I’m surprised that the love scene was so detailed, to be honest, even though there was only one. 

Finally, I’ll discuss the father-daughter relationship for Jasmine and her dad. He wants what’s best for her, which he believes is an education. She thinks differently because she has learning difficulties. She’d prefer to throw her luck in with something she’s good at ie skating, than something she won’t be able to do, being intellectually advanced. 

      

Overall, then I loved “From Lukov with Love.” It was a great enemies to lovers romance!