From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Romance
Blurb (on back of book): If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.
After seventeen years—and countless broke
n bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.
But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.
Including Ivan Lukov.
MY OPINION: ****
This was my first, and possibly my only, Mariana Zapata book. Everyone I know absolutely loves Mariana Zapata. Anyone who reads romance (like me) is a die-hard fan for this woman, along with Colleen Hoover. However, I had never read any of her books prior to this one and wasn't really sure what to expect, other than that it will feature a slow burn and be fairly mellow in terms of what occurs. I would like to say that I did not hate this book by any means. I actually really enjoyed it for what it was and I can definitely see where her stans are coming from. However, I don't think that her style of writing is my cup of tea and I don't foresee myself reading more in the future.
For me personally, her books are too long and too drawn out. Now, we all know I love a good slow burn. I hate hate hate insta-love and usually automatically throw those in the garbage pile (I'm kidding... mostly). However, I think on the opposite end of the spectrum, there is such a thing as TOO slow. I think this is a common critique people have of Zapata's books; however, it is also one of her most loved aspects. I think it all comes down to personal preference. If you are looking for a 500 page book in which nothing really happens for the first 450 pages (I'm on Apple Books so these are all guesstimates in terms of page numbers) and then you get a final 50 pages of HEA, then this is the book for you. I've heard all of her other books are like this and are even longer, so take that as you will. I personally just do not find interest in putting myself through more of these for 50 pages of glee.
That being said, I did actually really like this book. The concept of it was very cute and reminded me a lot of Netflix's Spinning Out which was unfortunately cancelled (bring it back!). The book focuses on two figure skaters who really, really hate each other but are forced to work together after complications with their performances or previous partners.
The book is told from the perspective of Jasmine, a figure skater who never seems able to reach that coveted first place trophy and always falls short of the prize. She's hit a real rut in her career, as her partner has left her and she is getting older (a real issue when it comes to athletics). When she gets the offer to work with first-place-winning Ivan Lukov, she can't turn it down, no matter how much she hates the man.
We see a myriad of cute little scenes here and there in which the two start to grow closer and Jasmine starts to see that Ivan is really a good man under the asshole-esque exterior. I loved reading each little scene because it felt like one step closer to the final culmination of their romance. I do think there was a lot that could have been cut out or simply shortened to make this book move faster. I was not a fan of the pacing and felt like there was so much unnecessary info that didn't really need to be there. However, all of the fluffy moments were definitely really cute and heartwarming and really built up the tension, angst, and chemistry between the two.
Going off of that, it almost felt as if every single scene was scripted. I could just imagine the 50 page outline this book had with each chapter detailed out down to the last letter. I wish things felt a little more natural and less forced, especially since we already knew what was going to happen by the end.
I loved Ivan. He was a genuinely kind and caring man with a boatload of talent and tiny bit of arrogance (which is valid considering how much of a god at figure skating he is). I think Jasmine judged him very incorrectly for the first 70% of the book but I'm glad that she eventually saw the light. We, as the readers, got to see that light a little bit before since we are way less oblivious than poor old Jasmine. Ivan deserved so much better for the majority of this book!
The banter between the two was very fun to read and definitely helped with the pacing, in my opinion. I know some people say it was too fake and unrealistic but I'm fine with that. It is a romance novel after all.
I know there is a companion novel to this book (that I think was written before?) about Jasmine's sister Ruby. I'm deciding if I shall read it or not; I may get around to it later on when I have more time and more self-will to put myself through another long and sometimes tiring book.
I would have loved to have seen Ivan's perspective. I think it would have added a lot to this book and possibly helped move the book faster and allow us to understand what was going on in his head.
I know I sounded like I hated this book for half of this review. I just want to say that that is not true and I genuinely enjoyed most of it. I do wish it had moved faster and featured more of the romance that we were promised but it was by no means horrible. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a dramatic, slow-burn, romance novel.
Main Character: Jasmine
Sidekick(s): Ivan
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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