From Lukov with Love

⛸️ Slow-burn, witty banter, and Ivan Lukov being the smartass is the perfect combination. 🐶 Jasmine Santos has dedicated her life to figure skating. Never been placed in the first position in any major championships, she thinks of herself to be a disappointment. When Ivan Lukov her childhood enemy ( and her best friend's older brother) asks her to partner with him for pairs, she contemplates but finally agrees. ⛸️ First and foremost the banter between them was amazing. Jas & Ivan are each other's copies, both are stubborn and relentless to pursue what they want. I still don't like Jasmin's dad, except for him all the members of her family were so cute and funny. 🐶 I wanted to see them more in love than being just friends like 95% of the book. The development of friendship was done well but I didn't feel the love. The ending was fast, it would have been nicer to show them being in love. ⛸️ MZ is the queen of slow burns, she writes simple day-to-day things but they are enjoyable. The figure skating description was done nicely so people could understand it ( I also enjoy watching figure skating on youtube so I loved the descriptions ) 🐶 I also realized I don't actually like reading slow burns. I like them after the 80% marks but the constant description of the same thing irritates me. ⛸️ I will probably remember Ivan's eyes and hair color + the shape of jasmine's body till the moment I die. It was described like 100 times 😭

Perf

Well written. I don't have any complains since I am not a figure skating nerd so I didn't really miss not having technical details about the sport in there but I think I'd have appreciated it more if there was more. I loved the characters. They were both endearing. The love story was warm like a blanket on a winter night and that's probably why it worked for me. It wasn't all passion and it worked for the two characters.

I blinked every time there was a blink written in this book. Good eye excercise 😂😂 It was a very nice novel. good feel novel

Jasmine and Lukov's banter is super super awesome! There's very mild steam in the book right at the end but seriously these two are super adorable. Though one thing I really wondered about is how Jasmine was always getting into trouble or had some issue or the other and Ivan kept saving/ supporting her always. Would have loved some support or saving from Jasmine for Ivan too sometime. Can't say she was the most likable FL 😌 but Ivan, just a full on sweatheart ❤️❤️

This book is love at first read and then like true love between Ivan and Jasmine it became my love. Can't tell you how many times I've read this book and still can't get enough of it!!! There are very few books i enjoy reading again and again. This is definitely one of those books. Mariana Zapata never fails to make me fall in love with her writing and books.

The book is not printed properly. This is my 2nd exchange of the book this is supposed to be a gift to a close frnd of mine the quality is not good for the price we are paying. I didn't expect this from Amazon. I didn't report a problem as I have to gift early. Never buying again. Pages are printed up n down I hope they didn't skip few lines🤡

With a lot of skimming through stuff which is not important, it's a nice book. I mean I skipped so much nonsense she would be thinking WHILE having a convo, that I'd be bored outta my mind but once you get used to it, the story is good.

Dare I say best slow burn book? Because I ate this up !!! It's one of my favourite books for sure and I defently recommend it.

This author! She amazes me every time I read one of her books. They are always slow-burn romances featuring real people with real-life issues. They are beautifully unhurried and a great study of human nature in all its forms. "There wasn't anything wrong with me. I stood up for myself. I stood up for other people." Jasmine Santos has dedicated her whole life to her sport. She's missed out on education, a social life, friendships beyond her close-knit family and the figure-skating world, and romantic relationships. Once a promising, rising star, something has been holding her back. Now, at 26, people seem to have already written her off, and her reputation is not quite stellar. "The brother to one of my only friends. The man who had not once said a kind word to me in over ten years. That's how I knew him." Ivan Lukov is figure skating personified. He can do no wrong. He's the golden boy of the ice. He's also a major thorn in Jasmine's side. One comment to him, when she was a teen, set the course of their acquaintance. Everybody knows that they can't stand one another. Then her number one frenemy and his coach approach her with an unthinkable opportunity that will give her a shot at winning a coveted gold medal, and revive her flagging career. This book was EVERYTHING! "You. Matter. To. Me. You." Like so many of this author's female characters, Jasmine is a strong, determined, no-nonsense woman. She doesn't sugarcoat anything. She might be blunt, but I loved her integrity and her work ethic. Like any elite athlete, she had her fair share of doubts, especially about all the things she's sacrificed in the name of her sport. I loved how she soldiered on with her first love in the face of disappointment and bad press; her refusal to justify her actions to anybody. Underneath her tough facade, she was a loving person who thought the world of those closest to her, and she had a propensity to stand up for the underdog. "Regardless of what happens, you will always be the best partner I've ever had. You'll always be the hardest working person I've ever known. There will only ever be you." I like to think of Ivan as a typical MZ hero. As her books are usually told from the female POV, we have to pick up clues to how the hero really feels, and what he thinks about the heroine and certain situations. Ivan was a match made in heaven for Jasmine. He was talented, commanding, and stubborn. He gave as good as he got and I loved that he enjoyed her snark- revelled in it, even. He was so fawned over as superstar that I'm sure he loved that she spoke to him so irreverently! LOL. I loved that he knew just how to treat her in any given situation. It was so clear how well he knew her and that he really cared about her and respected her as a person, as well as an athlete. He was pretty darn swoony! This book was humorous because Jasmine is such a snarky person, who doesn't mince her words. However, it also really tugged at my heartstrings - from quite early on, in fact. I was constantly wiping my eyes because I empathised with her struggles. She's such a tough cookie on the outside but, underneath, she had a big forgiving heart, and was just as vulnerable as the next person, with her doubts, her insecurities, and her anxieties. This was a fantastic, compelling read, with ice-hot chemistry between the two main characters. I loved EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. #TopRead2018

1 or 2 pages got ink spot but overall it's good.

¿POR DÓNDE EMPIEZO? 🤧😭✨ De Lukov with Love es un libro romántico de enemigos a amantes, de combustión lenta, sobre dos patinadores artísticos, Jasmine e Ivan, que deben emparejarse después de que ambos se encuentren en circunstancias difíciles, dejando de lado sus diferencias y su aversión mutua por el otro. Adoré a Jasmine y su personalidad desde el primer capítulo. Ella es la definición de una mujer fuerte (tanto física como emocionalmente), valiente, decidida y ruda. Ella es intensa y ruidosa la mayor parte del tiempo, pero de la mejor manera, y me encantó leer sobre todo lo que dijo, hizo, o la forma en que reaccionó a las cosas que la rodeaban. Los lazos entre ella y los miembros de su familia eran tan buenos, y sus relaciones eran tan dulces de leer. Tenemos a Ivan Luvok. Si bien Jasmine lo presenta en primer lugar como un pinchazo, arrogante e irritante, pronto podemos empezar a vislumbrar rasgos de su verdadero carácter: dulce, considerado y justo alguien por quien me enamoré perdidamente. Me encantó su discusión con Jasmine y cómo trataron de molestarse el uno al otro en cualquier oportunidad que pudiera presentar. Pero también cómo lentamente vemos que se cuidan unos a otros, se sienten cómodos y a gusto cuando el otro está cerca, y los pequeños actos y gestos con los que comienzan a tratarse a medida que avanza la historia. El romance fue TAN. MALDITO. BUENO. Increíble Maravilloso Cada pequeña cosa, una mirada, un gesto, una palabra entre Ivan y Jasmine era mágica, y estaba tan bien escrita que no me cansaba de ellas. Eran absolutamente adorables tanto individualmente como en su conjunto, y el tropo de la combustión lenta y de enemigos a amantes era fenomenal. He visto a todo el mundo hablar de lo maravillosas que son las lentas quemaduras de Mariana Zaapta, y estoy aquí para confirmar y elogiar tales afirmaciones. La forma en que pasaron de ser enemigos, a compañeros, a mejores amigos, a amantes fue increíble y una transición tan lenta y dulce que no se sintió apresurada ni provocada en ningún momento. En conclusión, este libro bien podría ser mi nuevo romance independiente favorito absoluto. Todos los libros de Mariana Zapata están ahora en mi tbr y puedes esperar que venga gritando a tus dms sobre lo bueno que es este libro. Ivan y Jasmine me han robado completamente el corazón y no lo voy a aceptar de vuelta.

I really thought this book would be okay but I didn’t expect to fall in love with the MC. It’s not every day that you read about an unapologetic strong female. There are a lot of strong characters out there, but Jasmine really knows herself and owns her sh*t and doesn’t want to change the way she works. I loved the whole book, the whole story that still managed to surprise me by not using the expected blown-up drama and miscommunication trope. It had everything to keep me up way too late for a couple of days, and make me feel more confident about my own flaws.