From Lukov with Love

DNF @ 50%
Potentially a soft DNF, as I've loved a few Mariana Zapata books, and I want to love this as well!
I'm just finding this is becoming somewhat of a chore to get through, and I'd rather pick up something more compelling, rather than skimming large chunks of this. MZ books tend to either really work for me, or be wayyy too slow-paced, heavy on the inner monologue, and needlessly wordy, and this is starting to feel like it may fall into the latter category.

I've run into a distracting amount of editing/grammatical errors, to the point where I've had to re-read several sentences multiple times over just to make sense of what she's actually trying to say. She also REFUSES to repeat character names throughout conversations, so rather than just saying “my mom said...” more than once in an exchange, she'll say something like “the woman who had virtually raised me and my four siblings all alone...”

Another issue I've been having is that I just haven't felt that connected to Jasmine, which hinders the experience in a single POV 500+ page romance.

Last - I'm really not a fan of Ivan using the nickname “meatball” towards Jasmine, especially coupled with all of the talk of her being on the larger side, body-wise, for a figure skater. From reading reviews, it sounds like there's no real explanation for why he refers to her that way, which makes me feel like it likely is in reference to her body? I also was grossed out by him coming off pretty dismissive of the fact that she was uncomfortable doing a nude photoshoot with him, and was worried that he would make nasty comments about her body. Since I didn't finish, this could potentially be addressed more, but I really didn't like the way he reacted during that scene, and that was the part that led me to put this one on hold.

i've never had a main character swear so much in normal regular conversation where it was almost NEVER required by the context of the scene it was just... not enjoyable. I'm literally only glad I read it because then I could suggest it to my sister charissa who I knew would love it (i was right)

The chemistry of these two was INCREDIBLE! I LOVED how they got to know each other little by little through highs and lows.
The way Jasmine had dealt with the expectations of her father, the sacrifices made with her family and her own pressure to do well were so relatable!
I'm gonna miss these two stubborn little sh*ts hahaha

2.5*

There's a lot of blinking happening in this book. Yes. Blinking.

I wish they actually described them doing the competitions and the sequences , all this work and I didn't really get to see it.

4.75* this book had me grinning, crying and laughing out loud ahh

3.5 stars
some dislikes:
- there were way too many pages of arguments that were just “yes you are” “no I'm not” “yes you are” “no I'm not”
- I can get down with some playful teasing but teasing someone about their weight is an ick for me
- I often forgot that they were in their late 20's & not like 18 years old
- REALLY disliked when he finds out she's being harassed he yells at her???

other than those few things I did really enjoy this. MZ has made me a SLUT for a slow burn and I surprisingly really liked the figure skating element. would recommend watching Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir performances whilst reading. and a love interest taking care of the other when they're sick scene? <3 the way he stood up for her with her family? <3

OKAY I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.

5⭐️

Truly the slowest of slow burns, with enemies to lovers. Like excruciatingly slow but I was 100% hooked the entire time.

Ivan who cares for Jasmine long before they became skating partners. Their banter for each other was so funny.

I laughed out loud, and teared up. So many emotions.

I wish I knew why he called her meatball???

So happy with this book. Love love love obsessed

Came for the slow burn, got emotionally wrecked by the plot. 10/10 will cry again.

This was a great love story! <3

4.5/5 stars

I probably would round this up to 5 star if I hadn't read the epilogue, but urgh I did and I hate epilogues. I need ambiguous endings to satisfy my desire to dream. Fuck it. I'm giving it 5 stars. It's been almost four months since I've given a book 5 stars. It's time. What epilogue????

Maybe I don't hate romance. Maybe I just need romance to involve sports and slowburns.

Anyways, this book was far from perfect and usually I rate things super critically but we're making an exception and rating based entirely on vibes and the fact this book made me smile almost too much.

QUE OBRA DE ARTE. PUEDE QUE SE HAYA CONVERTIDO EN MI LIBRO FAVORITO DE ROMANCE. QUE HISTORIA DE SUPERACIÓN, LUCHA, ACEPTACIÓN. WOW.

it was amazing read thar was connected to valentine day. it was the best idea. i fell in love with every moment and character. i'm writing it to ‘new romantics' taylor swift tho

5 FUCKING STARSSS
I never thought this book would get me smiling so hard that my cheeks will hurt.... The slow burn in this book IS AMAZING... WHEN THEY FINALLY KISSED NEARLY AT THE END I WAS SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS AND KICKING MY LEGS!!!!! My Mother hitted me with a water bottle but I didn't care AT ALL!!!! IM SO GLAD THIS WAS MY FIRST BOOK FROM HER BC I WILL GLADLY CONTINUE READING MORE OF HER BOOKS

IVAN FUCKING LUKOV!!!! I LOVE U BITCH... I FUCKING LOVE YOU SO MUCH

5 STARS BECAUSE I CAN'T PUT MORE

The best thing about this book was Jasmine's personality and Ivan's love for her

currently staring at my ceiling wishing the love in books could happen in real life. wow

This one was another great slow-burn romance.
Jasmine was an amazing character, I loved her fierceness! It took me a little while to warm up to Ivan, but I was head over heels for him by the end of the book. I was obsessed with the ice skating world.
I wish we got more of Ivan and Jaz as a couple and I wanted more scenes in competitions too.
Overall, it was a very entertaining, emotional, sweet romance with two of the most stubborn and fierce characters ever.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is still my favorite MZ's romance, though.

4.5

“You suck.”
“You suck even more.”

I loved From Lukov with Love so much. Their gradual hate-to-love relationship was realistic and didn't feel forced. It definitely felt like Ivan loved Jasmine from the very start though. Every time one of them called the other their best friend I wanted to scream because it was so cute.

I liked that they were so similar but they also evened each other out. Jasmine was, putting it mildly, stubborn and hot-headed. Ivan was calm and cool– unless he was with Jasmine then he was Satan. I enjoyed seeing how competitive ice skating was and how much work it took to be great at it (it's also one of my favourite Olympic sports). Their banter was so funny and I loved how honest they were with each other.

Their families! Aaaah they were so kind and supportive. I love big families. But there was also a bit of drama there. I really felt for Jasmine's anger towards her dad.

Ivan was an adorable sweetheart with a cold exterior. Now that I think about it... so was Jasmine.

From Lukov with Love? More like From Enemies-to-Best Friends-to-Love

4.5 Meatballs

I love this book so so much

i just.... it was..... i..... where do i start???? all i have to say is.... this gave [b:The Hating Game 25883848 The Hating Game Sally Thorne https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467138679s/25883848.jpg 45762345] a run for their money. and i fucking loved the hating game. please read this. please. i'm begging you. you will laugh and cry and smile and cry more. one of my favorite books to date, seriously :”””””””(

This is a haters or rivals to lovers story and at times it is so cute.
While this couple isn't one of my favorites, they definitely have good moments and times where I just loved them so much.
Jasmine has worked her whole life for this, as we read about in Dear Aaron (takes place 7 years before this book) and has almost nothing to show for it, which is heartbreaking. We can all understand how she feels and why she makes the decisions she does. Lukov is... I'll say misunderstood at times, but I don't want to spoil anything ;]

While Jasmine can be hard to like because she has a hard time saying the right things, I really did like her. Although, I will say that this book doesn't really feel like a romance until over halfway through. It is a slow, slow burn. They have to become friends first!!

I did have some issues with it and always always as interested as I always am, but this is another one of this author's books that I would recommend people read.

Ugh, these books always get me! Stayed up all night reading this one, of course. I HAVE to know what happens with the slow-burn romances in this author's books. Always and forever.

I liked the relationship between the characters in this one more than I liked the characters themselves. I didn't connect that much with Jasmine in this book because while we learned a lot of the struggles she went through growing up, I don't think there was enough of her personality in the book. I understand the author wanted to portray that her life revolved around figure-skating but the developmental moments she highlighted of Jasmine's childhood only centered around the qualities that she would constantly point out made her “different”. Her vulnerable moments were few and far between, and then nothing would come of them. The story would just go on as if the two main characters didn't just share a MOMENT.

The main thing I didn't like about Jasmine was one of her character flaws so obviously this was a subjective preference on my part. She was all about being “anti-fake” and keeping to her promises, and being different than she was before because she's grown. Her refusal to confront her own bullshit was the most annoying thing to read. She sounded like a two year-old instead of a twenty-six year-old woman whenever she would have back and forth arguments with Ivan. And honestly, how...how could she not know that he was teasing her because he liked her? That's one of the oldest tricks and so blatant from the very beginning that her shock later on was a bit extra.