From Lukov with Love Kindle Edition

I LOVE LOVE LOVED IT. Make way, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and Kulti, From Lukov with Love is joining you in my 're-read all over and over and over again' pile. This book had Mariana Zapata's signature slow burn that I can't get enough, characters I can't help but absolutely love, and fantastic banter that made me laugh out loud, all the while set in a sport world I don't usually encounter in romance novels (If you know more figure skating/pair skating romances, please recommend them to me!). Plus, Ivan and Jasmine are my favorite MZ hero and heroine.Jasmine Santos has been in the figure and pair skating world for as long as she can remember, but at twenty-six and without a partner after he left her in the dust, she might have to hang up her skates. Talented as she is, she hasn't won a gold medal since her junior years, and with people she has attitude problems, it isn't exactly easy to find a new partner.But when world champion and darling of the skating world Ivan Lukov and his coach asks her to become his partner, Jasmine knows this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Only thing is she can't stand Ivan, and the feeling is mutual. Despite Jasmine being Ivan's sister's best friend, the two have been at each other's throats since they were teenagers, and the animosity stayed with them even as they grew up.If they want to make their partnership work, they'll have to try to get along, or at least not try to kill each other while they're training. Outside the rink is fair game. But a partnership like theirs needs a strong foundation of trust in each other, and they don't trust each other at all.I laughed so much at Ivan and Jasmine's antics. These two did not hold back at all. They can't spend time together without throwing insults at each other that the people around them don't know whether to be frustrated or entertained. There were times my chest ached and I wanted to kick Ivan where it hurts because some of the things he said were pretty sore points for Jasmine, and honestly for me, too. Jasmine's not innocent either. But all in all, it's pretty innocent; it's become a routine for them to do it that their words do not have as much heat as it sounds.Okay, let me start with my dear Vanya. I'm pretty sure Ivan Lukov is my favorite MZ hero. He's different than the rest of the author's heroes. He's cocky but not to the point of being conceited, charming, and more outgoing than the previous heroes. He's affectionate and teasing, and has more to him than meets the eye. He's a celebrated athlete, but you can't begrudge him for his fame and success because you know well he worked hard for it. That's what makes him perfect for Jasmine. He understands her pains and struggles as an athlete, and knows better than anyone of the sacrifices they have to give to be where they are. And he's funny as heck!Jasmine, unlike her shy and reticent older sister Ruby (heroine of Dear Aaron), is outspoken and does not hold back to tell others what she's thinking. She's confident in who she is as a person and will never pretend to be something she's not just to please others, and you know what, that's what I admired about her the most. Because of that, people often mistake it for being mean and unapproachable.I have a similar outlook on life as Jasmine, and it hit me in the feels when I learned more about her. She's 100% focused on her career, and because of that, she's lost time she should have been spending with her family and everyone she loves. She seems emotionally detached, but truly she's kind-hearted.If you've read DA, Jas was a teenager then and honestly, to me, she seemed selfish or conceited. She's grown since then after finally realizing how much her family has sacrificed for her to reach her dreams, and she's making a conscious effort to make it up to them. But as I've said, Jasmine isn't a touchy-feely person, and she's still trying to figure out how to make it up to her family all the while trying to understand her real goal in her career and her frustrations. It's one of her biggest struggles here, and we get to see how she overcomes that. I loved watching this part of her, the growth Jasmine has to go through in From Lukov with Love.I loved the Santos family dynamic! Jasmine and her mom, Jas and her brothers and sisters (plus their significant others and children), it was such a treat to read about them! You can see it in her family why Jasmine is the way she is. They're not outwardly affectionate towards each other in a conventional sense, but the strong love is obvious. They tease and hurl insults at each other but will threaten bodily harm on people who they think would hurt their brood. Special mention to James who's the best! It was so funny when he and Jas bickered. The family dynamic felt authentic, even her strained relationship with her father. And as a Filipino, I have to confirm that some of the parents (luckily not mine) tend to think the same as Jasmine's father who believes that a college degree and a nine-to-five office job is better than anything else.While this book is full of funny antics, it has its fair share of angst, too. But other than that, there are a lot of feels! When the two decides to become friends, it's obvious how compatible they were, and then when they started caring for each other??? AHHHH. Feels! I love it when guys are affectionate and sweet and thoughtful and ahhh. I can't.From Lukov with Love is a standalone so people don't need to read Dear Aaron to appreciate it, but I still recommend reading DA first since it was set a few years prior to Lukov. But if you've read Dear Aaron already and loved them, you'll see a little bit more of #Ruron here!Fans of Kulti and enemies to lovers romance will love From Lukov with Love! It will make you laugh, tear up, and fall in love, not just with Ivan and Jasmine, but with figure and pair skating, as well.Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Best Friend's Brother, Sports—Pair SkatingPOV: First Person, Female POVStandalone: Yes

I discovered this author in December with The Wall of Winnipeg. I loved it. I quickly purchased and read Wait for It, Kulti, Under Locke, Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin, Dear Aaron, and lastly, From Lukov with Love. Winnipeg and Kulti were the best, followed by Lukov and Aaron. Malykhin and Locke were my least favorite. I love the way MZ develops the relationship between the main characters. It's believable, engrossing, and an amazing departure from boy meets girl, boy and girl each obsess about how hot the other is, boy and girl have sex a few times because they just can't help their clothes falling off, and only then do boy and girl fall "deeply" in love, usually in a space of a few short weeks. I also love that each book has a subtle nod to characters from other books. MZ makes you fall in love with each couple and root for their happiness.Having said that, I will not be purchasing anymore of MZ's books. They are too frustrating. In every story, she builds up this amazing relationship between the main characters. We see them get closer and develop feelings for each other. But the minute they admit their feelings - BOOM. There's a love scene and the story is immediately over. Then it cuts to some bullcrap epilogue 5-10 years in the future, a cursory "yeah so everything worked out, they had a couple of kids and did xyz with their careers." The End. It is SO frustrating that we don't get the payoff of seeing how the main characters develop once they become a couple. We don't get to see them together and how their relationship changes. After spending hundreds of pages building up the relationship, MZ completely leaves the reader hanging. I'm tired of getting invested in these couples, only to be frustrated by the abrupt ending. It's too disappointing. I'm not doing it anymore.**SPOILER**The epilogue is particularly frustrating for this book because it goes into how many years it's been since they won worlds, nationals, and the Olympics, how many years since they had children, and it doesn't do it in a linear way. It forces you to do the clumsy math to count backward and try to figure out ok did they do the impossible and win nationals and worlds their first season together? Then the Olympics the next year? And how many years did they skate before they took time to have kids? It would have been nice to go through that part of the story WITH them. I feel cheated out of their victory, their marriage, the other good parts of their story.**END SPOILER**Other minor pet peeves:In every story, the main characters will spend a lot of time blinking at each other. Soooo much blinking. Why? There will also be a good amount of eye twitching, nostril flaring, and poking one's tongue into the inside of one's cheek. These aren't things I ever see anyone do in real life, but it sure happens a lot in her stories. She also makes a LOT of references to how pink the male lead's lips are. In this particular story, there are at least a dozen references to Ivan's pink lips. She even calls them "cotton candy pink" a few times. It's not hot or even mildly attractive. I don't get the fixation, and it takes me out of the story every time. Why the hell are his lips so pink? Is he drinking Kool Aid? Does he need Chapstick?Another mystery: If Ivan is SO amazing a skater, and wins all the time no matter what, why is he a pairs skater? He seems to change partneres a lot. Why doesn't he skate alone?Third mystery: why do none of the couples in her books EVER use protection? Every single time, we find out in the middle of the love scene that the woman is on birth control, even though she hasn't been with anyone in ages. Even in the cases where the guy knows sex is going to happen (Kulti, Winnipeg, Wait for it) he never brings a condom. In this day and age, it just doesn't ring true. What does MZ have against condoms? Why does she assume every woman in her 20s is on the pill? Why don't any of them care about protecting themselves?Also, MZ really needs a proofreader. For sure she does not get the difference between past and passed. She does that all of the time. Winnipeg has the worst examples of this, but it happens in every book:"...I commented as he stepped passed me inside.""I drove passed the gate""I wouldn't hold it passed him to hide under the bed""Aiden walked right passed them as if they weren't there"But I digress. This isn't about Winnipeg.

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

From Lukov with Love it’s another great slow burn read from this author! It’s long but while reading it you don’t realise when suddenly end is behind the corner and you don’t want it to end! You need time and patience as it takes time for the story to grow, the first half of the book is mostly constant bickering between our couple. Sometimes I forgot they were past middle twenties as they were arguing as teenagers but even if it went for long time you still enjoy every bit of it. I absolutely adored Lukov!He was that guy that you love more with each page. His “not so little secret” or rather “many secrets” made me see him in totally different light and totally and utterly one of my favourite characters!Give this book your time. While reading the first book of this Author a few years ago at first I was restless as it was never ending and such a slow burn it nearly killed me. In the end it became one of my favourite books that I often read when I need to relax. After reading more of her books I know to be patient and honesty they really don’t seem long anymore just precious with the best bit to come at the end which is always good and worth it all!

When I realised Marianne Zapata had a new book out I was delighted. I subscribe to kindle unlimited and I downloaded the book immediately, then waited a couple of days until I could have a good run at it. The first reading session lasted until 4am, then I was up at 9 to read until completion.Then as I always seem to do with this author, I ended up buying the book, because some books you just have to own. I feel better having them in my library, and I’ve re-read her offerings regularly.This is up there with my favourite, The Wall of Winnipeg and I.It’s a wonderful combination of realism and escapism. I heartily recommend it.

Amazing book as always by Mariana Zapata!Absolutely loved every word and as always Mariana sucks us in for the long slow burn while her characters tease.. flirt and learn to know all there is about each other.This book tells us the story of figure skater Jasmine who we met briefly in Dear Aaron as she is the sister of Ruby.Jasmine has always had skating in her life.. its her passion so when her partner of a few years sends her back to being a single skater Jasmine thinks her career is over until she gets a chance to train and compete with World champion Ivan Lukov.This brings us sarcastic comments by the bucket load.. fun laughter and even some tears while these pair learn how to skate together but as always the story takes a turn making us love these guys even more.I will forever read everything Mariana writes she is amazing and every one of her books show just what talent she has!!

Every time I see a new release coming from Ms Zapata I get excited and start counting down the days. Every book I read I have loved and re-read over and over until I could probably write it out myself word for word just off memory alone. BUT... This book, just smacked me right in the feels - I literally wanted nothing to do with the real world for the day and a half it took me to read. From Lukov is just stunning and makes you want to dig into that part of you that where you buried your dreams years ago when reality and bills and life got in the way, and look at the world a little more like Jasmine, and go for it, whatever that dream, that feeling or rightfulness and home may be. And if your lucky maybe find a Ivan to be there to drag you kicking and screaming when needed and always, always get back up after a fall.XXXXX