From Lukov with Love

I have an intense fondness for the 1992 figure skating romcom, The Cutting Edge, and end up watching it whenever I run across it. So I was immediately drawn to this book since the synopsis sounded very similar to the movie. In this book, Jasmine is a pairs figure skater without a partner. She's prickly and quick to fight (so more Tonya Harding than Kate Moseley). She hates Ivan Lukov, who is wealthy and holds several skating titles and gold medals, so when he wants her to be his new skating partner, her initial impulse is to turn him down, but she needs a partner and Ivan is very good, but can the two of them stop fighting and work together? The obvious answer is yes, and there's nothing surprising in this story, but there are many show more references to The Cutting Edge and several scenes that were cribbed from the movie. Since the story was told entirely from Jasmine's point of view, many of Ivan's actions made little sense, but I'm not sure that matters much. No one said, "Toepick!" which was a minor disappointment, but the pamchenko was referenced. show less

Ahhh I set my hopes too high. I know it's a slow burn, but it was soooo slooooow... She hated him and hated him and then hated him some more... Mamma mia I've got no patience for that.
Luckily I got invested at some point and enjoyed it EVENTUALLY so I'm not giving up on Mariana Zapata just yet.

Update
Ok there must be something about this book because it's been 24 hours and it's still in my head.

So how did they actually manage to get together after being elbow deep in friendzone?? That's pretty impressive if you ask me. She was so clueless it hurt. He kept touching her and she didn't get it, he kissed her (hello!!!) and she kept telling herself that that's what "friends do". Right.
Although maybe it's cute that they were so comfortable show more with each other? Hmmm I'm confused. show less

I was completely obsessed with The Cutting Edge as a child and this had that same energy.

Jasmine and Ivan have spent years snarkily picking at each other at the rink where they train. He needs a new partner for skating and she reluctantly signed on. Turns out, he’s pretty awesome.

I have to say Meatball is the oddest choice for a pet name for your frenemy turned friend turned lover but I was here for it.

This was silly, sweet, and there was a lot of character growth. I should not be surprised I had to wait so long for the spice given the author but still. 96%.

Абсолютный бестселлер БукТока, более 300 000 000 просмотров! Он — чемпион. Она — неудачница. И они ненавидят друг друга. Джесмин Сантос не мыслит жизни без фигурного катания, но ей еще ни разу не удавалось занять первое место… К тому же, ее бросает партнер, и Джесмин в отчаянии. Пока ей не подворачивается возможность выступать в паре с Иваном Луковым — братом ее лучшей подруги и по совместительству настоящей show more звездой фигурного катания. Есть только одно «но»: Джесмин терпеть не может Ивана. Как и он ее. Их тандем предвещает много, очень много ссор. Но Джесмин решает рискнуть. Правда ли она готова на все ради успеха? Обжигающе ледяная история «от ненависти до любви» от королевы слоуберна Марианы Запаты. «Все, что пишет Мариана Запата — чистое золото! Я восхищаюсь ее способностью создавать таких удивительных персонажей. Эти истории — настоящий подарок для любителей романтики». — Али ... show less

4.5 stars. It's Mariana Zapata. I will forever enjoy her writing and slow burn romances. Especially a sports, hate to love one. I enjoyed Jasmine and her stubbornness and familial complexities. I enjoyed Lukov, with all his snarkiness. A half star off due to the ending seeming like a bit of a double epilogue, but overall I enjoyed it.

I swear to you that Mariana Zapata is the queen of the slow burn romance. While I found some aspects of the story fell flat (Jasmine's BFF for example), I think that's just the case of being underdeveloped as a plot point or maybe even uncessary and it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the story. Zapata has a fan for life in me.

From Lukov with Love is my first time reading Mariana Zapata's work. I picked this as part of the Kindle Hispanic Heritage month challenge based on the many positive reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Its nomination in best romance category in 2018 also played a role in influencing my decision. Zapata is dubbed the queen of slow burn romance and after reading From Lukov with Love I can see why.

This was quite the slow burn. The romance, which came out of left field, came into play at around eighty percent into the story. For a book which is over 500 pages/ 14 hours of listening, one would expect the romance would have developed earlier. Of course, at that point, I didn’t buy into this change in their relationship. There was no real show more development in that area. They had no chemistry, and their interactions lacked the emotions one would expect from two people in love with each other. I never once got the feeling these two liked each other, much less to fall in love. Their constant bickering and name-calling, which was fun at first, became tiresome the deeper one goes into the story one goes.

Now, despite its failure in the romance, From Lukov with Love delivered a lovely story of self-discovery, acceptance and forgiveness. The story shows how the heroine grew throughout the story. She knows what she wants and works hard to achieve her dreams. However, self-doubt and fear of failure held her back. Eventually, she overcame those negatives. I loved the support her family gave her. They believed in her capabilities, even when she doubted herself.

It was interesting seeing the story develop through Jasmine’s eyes. However, it would have nice to get Ivan’s POV. Without Ivan’s POV, the reader couldn’t tell when he developed romantic feelings for Jasmine. As the story was told mainly from Jasmine’s POV, the reader spends a lot of time in her head. From there, one sees her insecurities. However, Jasmine’s character was quite abrasive. One may find it difficult to like her. It took me quite a while to warm up to her.

I am still on the fence where Ivan I concerned. He behaves like a jerk for most of the story. Then, when Jasmine fell ill, his tender side reared up. It felt forced, and personally, I thought he showed that side because he needed her to get better for their competition. The story provided some comic relief at the right moment. It helped to balance out the moments where Jasmine’s inner monologue became tiresome.

Although From Lukov with Love did not wow me, I will not hesitate to try another one of Zapa’s books.

The story’s narration was performed by Callie Dalton and Teddy Hamilton. Callie’s delivery of Jasmine’s wit, passion, sarcasm, and self-doubt was on point. This is my first time listening to Callie, and I thought she did a wonderful job. Teddy’s narration occurs whenever dialogue for Ivan’s character comes into play. He did an excellent job of bringing Ivan’s character to life. This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading show less