From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata

“Just like that, Ivan extended his hand out at his side toward me. He watched my face as I gave him my own hand, draping my palm over his, both of us curling our fingers around the other’s”

(pg. 525)

About

Author: Mariana Zapata

Genre: New Adult Romance

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Synopsis

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 broken 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.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To all those with a fierce and passionate dream,

I’ve heard nothing but great things about From Lukov With Love, and to be quite honest, I just bought the book without reading the synopsis as I do 😅. I don’t regret buying or reading the book, but I will say that I thought From Lukov With Love was a good story, just not my absolute favorite. Now, now before you say, “Well, how could you not like From Lukov With Love?!?!?!!?!?!” because trust me, I get it—-when someone doesn’t like your favorite book, it feels like a personal attack. I didn’t say I didn’t like From Lukov With Love, it’s just not one of the books that I felt absolutely obsessed with after I read it. I don’t know if it was because I have been in a reading slump the last few months and this book unfortunately got some of that reading-slump energy from me and that’s why I wasn’t into it as much, or because this book was hyped up so much that I had some unconscious expectations. Either way, I did enjoy From Lukov With Love, but I would have liked to love it more.

Mariana Zapata is a great writer and I heard she has other books that I will definitely read in the future. Maybe a different book will be the one that makes me understand all the hype around From Lukov With Love and the worlds she created, but for now, I have nothing but respect and okay feelings about From Lukov With Love.

What I did appreciate was a head-strong female lead who was Filipino. As someone who is also Filipino, we don’t get enough representation in the media whatsoever, so it was refreshing to see someone who could have resembled me in a story. I also really liked how Jasmine was never a quitter and she put her whole heart into what she did/loved. I do think she was stubborn to a fault about not knowing when to rest or take a break, especially when she had a fever and was basically licking the dirty ice rink to cool down. I mean, if sis knew she had a fever and was feeling unwell, there’s no way in heck she was down to train well. It would have only taken her longer to get better if she pushed herself through that fever and that would have been worst. It’s kind of ironic or funny that when I was reading the part where Jasmine had her fever, I was also battling a cold/fever 😅. So I knew exactly—-or almost exactly how she felt—-how she felt. I understand why she pushed herself even if she was sick because we all think we are invincible and that we can just keep pushing ourselves and keep going and it will be fine. But we need to listen to our body and know that it has limits. If we are sick, it’s because our body is telling us that we need to take care of ourselves and rest. I need to be better about resting as well because when I get a cold, I always lament about the things I should be doing or how I should have been at work—-like I should feel guilty that I have a cold and that I get to rest. But I needed to rest to gain clarity that I had been on a constant go-go-go schedule that I never really paused to take care of myself mentally and emotionally. So I needed that time to remember that I was a human being and to slow down.

Jasmine definitely needed to slow down. MY GOSH, I give her SOOOOO much credit for training at the butt crack of dawn for hours on end, then going to work, then training again, then going to ballet or pilates, and then training again, and then going home to sleep for a few hours to wake up and train all over again. I can’t even fathom the physical and emotional labor professional athletes experience everyday because that’s tough. I run everyday and try to be fit for myself, but to do it because it’s part of your passion or your career, must be an entirely different story. My body would be absolutely EXHAUSTED. I don’t know how professional athletes do it or how Jasmine did it. I would be screaming and crying in pain, but she never did. I mean, my gosh. She was a trooper and strong woman and no one could tell her that she didn’t work her butt off to be where she was now.

I believe it’s rough when you are a professional athlete or you want to become one and you never reach that goal for yourself. Jasmine had been skating for practically her whole life but never had any awards to show for her hard work. Honestly, you don’t need awards or recognition to be or feel the best—-you don’t need anything to prove that you are good enough at what you do. But I can impinge that if you trained for something your whole life, how devastating and disappointing it must feel for yourself that you never “made it” or have something to show for yourself—-it almost feels like you failed. Jasmine deserved to give herself more credit because I don’t think she failed because she kept trying all these years. She could have called it a quits after repeatedly not going anywhere, but she never gave up on the hope that she would one day accomplish something great, and that hope is more powerful and more symbolic than any medal or trope. I think hope is what makes someone a true winner, that and never giving up on your dream. Sometimes things don’t work out because it’s not the right time or right person, and if she had quit she would have never been patterns with Ivan or won the things she only dreamt of.

She also put a lot of pressure on herself because she felt like she was failing her family. That’s rough and sucks. I know exactly what that feels like—-it’s already hard when you’re hard on yourself, but to feel like you’re failing others is a whole other burden we sometimes create and don’t need to. Jasmine’s mom sacrificed a lot of time and money for Jasmine to train and achieve her dreams of going to the Olympics and becoming one of the best figure skaters. I don’t think someone sacrifices that much if they didn’t believe in you whole-heartedly. I was happy that Jasmine had someone who saw how passionate she was about figure skating and believed in her her whole life; that kind of support from the people you love means the world. However, because Jasmine never had anything to show for her efforts throughout the years, she felt her mom’s sacrifices had been in vain—like the mom gave Jasmine everything and Jasmine had nothing to return for her mom. Again, Jasmine pegged me as someone who was very hard on herself. I mean, it takes one to know one. She needed to remember that her mom sacrificed things for her out of love and belief and that she wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t believe in her, and to not feel awful that her mom chose to support her. It was the mother’s choice. Yea, I would feel guilty and sucky if I was Jasmine, but ultimately, it doesn’t help to wallow in those guilty feelings because they don’t go anywhere but bring us down.

Growing up, I was a ballet and jazz dancer. My parents would take my sister and I to a dance studio where we would practice at least three times a week for an hour. We had to buy leotards, tights, jazz and ballet shoes, hairnets and clips, bobby pins, jazz shorts, etc. All these things we needed to dance. And then we had recitals where my parents had to spend money on costumes, not only for me, but my sister too. It was a lot of money that a hobby took up, that I didn’t know they were spending on us. I didn’t know they were sacrificing so much for my sister and I to learn to dance because we enjoyed it. The older I got, the more I realized, dance did cost money and that’s why money was always tight when we were younger. I appreciate how my parents let us dance even though they didn’t need to, but they wanted us to explore different hobbies or passions. I wouldn’t have known I liked ballet as much as I do or contemporary dance. I’m not the best dancer, and I quite years ago, but I still enjoy dancing or watching dances. But my pain is that I could feel guilty as an adult for all my parents sacrificed for my sister and I to dance even though we didn’t get any trophies or awards for it. I mean, it sucks to know that I was part of the reason that money was tight back then, but I know my parents chose to sacrifice out of love. To repay that sacrifice, we just do our best and try to help out or show our love in other ways even if we can’t monetarily repay them or show them a trophy for their efforts. I don’t know if that makes sense. But to not not appreciate your parents sacrifices, but know that we don’t need to be so hard on ourselves and feel like failures if something doesn’t work out because no sacrifice is done in ill-intent or vain and giving up something isn’t done in ill-intent or vain. It’s just part of life. Thank your parents and appreciate them in other ways that show them that you appreciated their sacrifice, it doesn’t have to be an award of a million dollars to do so.

Anyway, besides my long ramble, Jasmine had a really strong and great relationship with her family. I liked how casual she was with her mom, talking to her mom like a best friend. I also liked how joking she was with her brother Jojo, Ruby, and Tali. I liked how she also had a good relationship with her siblings partners because that’s good that she expanded her relationships and had their support as well. I liked who Jasmine was with her family because she wasn’t a stubborn a** to them 😂. I mean, yea, she kind of was a stubborn a** to them but she was a friendly or jokey kind of a** like you are around family. I liked their banter and their support of Jasmine and her dreams. I also really liked Tali and how she loved making clothes/costumes and how she made clothes/costumes for Jasmine. I mean, that was a beautiful way to show her support.

I liked that conversation Jasmine had with Tali about how Tali went to school for finance and got the “practical” degree because that’s what everyone expected of her or told her to do—-that fashion wasn’t a stable path. She listens to those people who told her to do something more stable. It seemed like Tali tolerated what she did, but her true passion and love was for design and making clothes. I understand that there are jobs that people think are more “stable” and people’s concern comes out of love and care, but I don’t think it’s anyone’s call to say what a person can and cannot do with their life unless it’s unethical and immoral and it’s an actual cause for concern. But if Tali was passionate about design, no one should have ever made her feel like that wasn’t the path that she should follow. She should have been supported to feel like she could make clothes for a living, and hey, if it didn’t work out, then that would have been for Tali to discover and learn. But no one should take away your passion because they don’t see the value in it. It’s not their passion to have a say in. So I liked how Tali shared her feelings with Jasmine as a way to say that Jasmine shouldn’t give up on her passion and follow her heart. Also, that Jasmine had always been brave to do what she felt was best for her despite what other said. it’s difficult not to let the other voices in because they make you doubt yourself, but I’m glad Jasmine stuck to what she loved even when she felt like giving up.

The only person Jasmine didn’t have a strong relationship with was her dad. Her dad left their family when she was born—-she was the youngest. He barely texted or called Jasmine, never wanting to reach out to get to know her, which made her feel like she was the reason he left and that he didn’t care to know her. If I was Jasmine, I would have felt the same way because the dad left when she entered the family and it would be hard to not think that I was the reason for that. It also didn’t help that it never seemed like her dad believed in her dream. He always made passive-aggressive comments about how she should quit or get a real job or that she should go to college. I know her brothers and sisters said the dad loved Jasmine and that that was just his way of showing his concern and care, but that’s not the way you talk to someone you love, especially if it’s something significant like their dreams. What I was hearing from Jasmine’s dad was that he didn’t believe in her and that she should quit—that she wasn’t good enough and should give up. Also, he never ever went to one of her competitions and that sucks. I mean, not one single competition? He couldn’t just show up and sit there to watch his daughter?!?!? Maybe if he watched her, he could see how talented she was and how much figure skating made her happy.

But he judged her before getting to know her or understanding what she loved.

I just felt like the dad sucked.

OOOOH, don’t even get me started on the dinner where he really let his passive aggressive flag fly! The nerve of him to really go at Jasmine like that in front of everyone had me boiling like a crab in a pot!!!! WHAT A LOSER. If there’s one thing men have, it’s the freaking AUDACITY!!!!! What a jerk. I wanted to throw down 😂. I was so here for it when Ivan verbally threw down and told the dad off with how amazing Jasmine was as a figure skater and how she was the best partner he ever had. You tell him, Ivan 👏🏼!!!! Make that loser feel more like a loser! Beat his ego!!!!!!

No, but I have to say, I did think it was a good step in the right direction that the dad went to her competition in the end. I don’t know who dragged him there or forced him to go, but at least he showed up because it showed how he was going to try to support her dream and that’s better than nothing. I don’t think he was happy to be there though or that he understood how much figure skating meant to Jasmine. But hey, doing the bare minimum out here, I guess 🤪.

I would have liked to have an actual conversation between Jasmine and the dad about how she didn’t appreciate the way he spoke to her and how much that affected her. If I’m remembering correctly, the did have a conversation, but I wanted more because I felt Jasmine deserved more or at least an apology from the dad for the way he treated Jasmine and spoke down to her. I wanted him to really be honest with her about why he demeaned her and her passion because she never deserved that sort of treatment in the first place. And honestly, showing up one time didn’t matter or wasn’t a big deal to her because she knew that his opinion meant nothing at the end of the day. I just feel like if someone doesn’t believe in you or respect you, then they will never believe in you and you will never change their mind. Nothing you can do will change the way they already convinced themselves of who you are. Been there, tried that. Not worth it.

I didn’t like how people teased Jasmine that she basically ancient and shouldn’t figure skate anymore—that she should give up and just teach figure skating classes. I’m not too sure how old the cutoff is to compete in the Olympics or to be a figure skater, but I wanted to wag my finger at the people who made Jasmine feel like an old hag just because she didn’t quit on her dream. You are never too old to accomplish something and to keep trying. I don’t care if there are other younger people who could do the same thing or do it better, it doesn’t mean you give up on yourself or what you love.

Also, can I just say these petty a** little figure skating girls who bullied the other girls or Jasmine needed to get their egos out of their butts because they weren’t top sh** 🙃. Sorry! Not really. But seriously, how PETTY and DUMB. Mean girls can suck toes.

Honestly, when Jasmine popped off on those mean girls who were bullying this other younger figure skater, I was like, “YOU TELL THEM, JASMINE!! SCARE THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THEM 👏🏼!” I mean, someone needed to tell these girls off. My gosh.

I mean, you have to admire Jasmine’s fierceness and the way she’s not afraid to fight for those she loves or for the right thing. You know, she wasn’t a violent main character, but I’ve never met a main character who was not in a fantasy book that actually meant it when she said she would open a can of whoop a** on you 😂. And I loved it! I loved how Ivan also was like, “What is a can of whoop a** and where can I get one?”

I mean, where can I get that energy too? 🤪

The one thing I did enjoy the most about From Lukov With Love was the banter between Ivan and Jasmine.

The banter in the beginning was borderline I’m-going-to-skate-over-your-hand-in-your-sleep 😅 energy with how much they obviously repulsed and detested each other, but later it became a banter out of love.

I mean, who doesn’t like a good banter?!?!

Enemies to lovers, content over here!

I loved how Coach Lee let them rip each other’s throat’s out as long as she didn’t have to hear it or was there. I liked how Coach Lee could still tell they hated each other’s guts. I don’t blame Ivan for hating Jasmine’s guts if the first words she ever told him was that his Chiquita banana outfit was ugly 😂.I appreciated her honesty and bluntness, but gosh, she really couldn’t have said her comment nicer?

You don’t just go up to someone you barley know and say, “Your outfit is ugly.”

I mean, how else was Ivan supposed to react or feel about being told he looked ugly in his outfit?

I would have felt the same way as Ivan. He was just defensive—-not a good way to start off their relationship with a roast. Hence, hating each other all these years.

But deep down, Ivan always respected and admired Jasmine for her work ethic and her strength as a figure skater. I liked that he acknowledged how good she was because I don’t think Jasmine heard it enough with how much everyone told her she was too old or wasn’t good enough because she didn’t have a medal to her name. Jasmine just needed a confidence boost that no one gave her until now. They did work well as a team, albeit messily and stubbornly because they were like two mountains on opposite sides of the state, trying to come together. But it was their work ethic and resilience that made them a good team. They challenged each other and knew when to push and not push.

The thing that made me not really feel obsessed over the book was how slow the whole middle portion of the novel felt like. I mean, there were some exciting and interesting things, but I just wanted more oomph or heart-to-hearts, or something to make me feel compelled to keep reading. Mostly the middle of the book was Ivan and Jasmine training and then bantering about how much they didn’t like each other and then training again. And then Jasmine getting sick and Ivan taking care of her, which was incredibly sweet. I liked how tender he was that he cared for her and how he showed her his little studio apartment room in the Lukov Center. He wasn’t not nice to her once the crossed the line from enemies to friends. I liked that he really didn’t hate her and wanted to be more than this person he called a Chiquita banana ugly outfit dude.

I quite liked Ivan because he was a big softie for Jasmine.

The middle of the book also had that nude sports magazine shot, which was very intimate. I liked how Ivan pestered Jasmine for the real reason she didn’t want to do the photoshoot. She used to have online stalkers who used to get off with her pictures, which is NASTY AND REPULSIVE and makes me think how gosh darn bothered and uncomfortable I would feel if I were Jasmine. I wouldn’t have wanted to do the photoshoot either, but she never told Ivan the real reason and gave him the lame excuse that he called her a Meatball and teased her relentlessly about her body. That explantation made sense because if someone teased me about my body, heck, I’d feel embarrassed and nervous of showing my body to a camera or that person—he was the very one who judged her.

Oh, and I know Meatball is an endearing term, but no one wanted to be called a Meatball in the context that he used it 😅. I’m sorry!?!?!? He used to call her a Meatball because, I’m assuming, it was a joke that she was meaty and chunky like a meatball???? I don’t know why he called her Meatball, but if he commented on her weight in the past and called her a Meatball in a teasing way, I don’t think that’s a good thing 🤨. That’s like calling someone Donut 😅. Like, I don’t know what’s romantic about calling her Meatball.

This wasn’t a Lady and the Tramp context, so I can’t say I enjoyed him demanding her in a loving way whenever he called her a Meatball 😂.

I don’t know.

Jasmine did the photoshoot as a way to prove her strength and confidence to Ivan, but gosh that must have been weird to be naked and then him be naked and to take pictures in front of people. I don’t know how models or some people do it. I could not. Not that I judge those who do, but it’s just something I don’t think I would do.

But the photoshoot went well, and gosh the confidence she oozed was beautiful. I loved that for her. I LOVED and cackled at the conversation between Jasmine’s mom and Jojo when they were talking abbot Jasmine doing the nude shoot and the mom was like Jasmine’s a grown woman and can do what she wants with her body and how everyone knows what boobs are and boobs will be boobs. The mom went on a whole tirade and let Jojo suffer through it and it was hilarious 😂. We love the mom! I loved how the mom also joked about framing Jasmine’s photo as a keepsake. I loved that the mom embraced the female body and wasn’t afraid to acknowledge it or talk about it. What a woman.

I don’t agree with how Ivan snooped through Jasmine’s drawers when she was sick and he stayed at her house to take care of her. I don’t think that was his place to look through her things because no one should do that ever. He found the screenshots or notes of the people who stalked Jasmine, and he was furious that Jasmine never told him about her stalkers. I think he was more mad at the stalkers who were doing vile things and that he wanted to rip their heads off for looking at Jasmine like that. But he took his anger out on her. I didn’t think that was fair to Jasmine when for one) he shouldn’t have been sneaking around in her things and two) it’s not her fault that she wasn’t ready to tell him about that yet. She should have been given the time and space to open up about her past battles when she was ready. I didn’t think the way he found out or treated Jasmine was fair at all. And she was still getting better from her cold and he wanted to scream in her face? No sir, I would have kicked him out of my house for looking at my things and then screaming at me 👌🏼.

I know it was a well-intentioned anger and scream, but still. She was just lying on the ice rink, ready to lick it and then the next day, you’re getting mad at her???

He did take good care of Jasmine when she did need it, and I can’t say that.

Nurse Ivan Lukov at your service 😂.

But I loved how he stayed with her when she was sick because she didn’t want him to go. He also said he had to do some mysterious thing that he always said he needed to go to. He had a low-key farm at his real house, which I loved. How cool! I don’t know, not going to lie, I loved getting to know Ivan more because he was this big, broody softie and yet he had this whole life we barely knew about.

I know his parents lived back in Russia, but I wanted to know more about them and why they started the Lukov skating company or how he and his family got into skating. I wanted to know more about his dynamic with his sister and to see them together rather than just know his sister through phone calls. I t would have been cool if his parents came down during the competition season to watch and we got a cute, meet-the-parents as his partner dinner or something because his parents knew Jasmine because Jasmine was best friends with Ivan’s sister, but I would have liked to see the parents in the book.

I liked how he brought her hot coco when she was skating on the rink in anger and she needed someone to obviously talk to. He was the best person I think she could have talked to because he was the only person who could remotely understand what it was like to give up so much for something you love but also feel like it wasn’t enough for everyone around you. I liked how he gave her a safe space to talk and let her feelings out without judging her, but connecting. Her mother had been in a car accident, which the mom made it seem so casual like not a big deal. Sis, it was a huge deal the mom was in a car accident, and the mom didn’t want to tell Jasmine because she knew how busy she was. I don’t think Jasmine would have cared about practice if she knew her mom was in a freaking accident; Jasmine would have said screw practice. But that’s probably why the mom also didn’t call because she didn’t want to distract Jasmine from training for something the mom believed in Jasmine to achieve. But the mom still should have reached out to Jasmine or someone in the family when she was in a freaking accident! I would have absolutely felt gutted or furious with myself if I made anyone in my family feel like they couldn’t even call me when they needed me most. But it wasn’t Jasmine’s fault that her mother didn’t call her and I felt awful that she did feel like it was her fault that her mom didn’t think she cared enough. Jasmine cared more than anyone. She was just juggling so much—-a load that I don’t think even the most expert juggler could juggle. She was doing the best she could and I don’t think for a second that if her mom needed her, Jasmine wouldn’t have been there, figure-skating be danged. But the mom didn’t even give Jasmine the choice to care by not calling her to be there. And that made Jasmine feel even worse.

When you work hard for something, there’s so many sacrifices or decisions you have to make—time, energy, relationships, money. Relationships are hardest to sacrifice when you work towards something because it’s not like you don’t care about those people—-you do—but you know that you can’t devote the time into them that you want. It’s not that those people aren’t a priority, it’s just they aren’t the priority right now and its a challenging line to navigate because we all want to make time for every single thing—-health, wellness, work, life, friends, family, etc.—-but it’s extremely, extremely difficult to handle it all without one part of your life slipping or getting less attention. But we want to juggle it all. But we can’t. And that’s the hard part because we never want one part of our life to feel like it’s not important or that it doesn’t matter, it’s just where do we draw the line of what is too much and what can I hold onto right now? Jasmine was juggling everything and there were so many decisions she had to make about what she needed to juggle and what she wanted to juggle.

I mean, again, the absolute most credit that she balanced everything pretty darn well with making time for work, dinners with her family, training, sleeping, bathing, eating, and spending time with her nieces and nephews. It’s hard. And I felt that night when she was skating out of anger, it was anger at herself and her life that she had all these things she loved but didn’t know how to show them she loved them without giving her all and not knowing how to give everything all of of her.

Then there was the moment Jasmine broke her foot out of anger because she had a difficult conversation with her dad that triggered all this emotion in her. So she literally slipped up and fell the wrong way. Not Jasmine actually trying to get back up and skate 😅. She really is the poster spokesperson for resilience. But not Ivan, actually crying and worried about her because she was an idiot for trying to get back up.

I kind of felt like she was going to hurt her foot or break something because she was seeing red 😅—-not thinking clearly. It broke my heart to think she broke her foot because what did that mean for competing? They spent all this time training, and now what? Ivan was known for being the best and now he didn’t have a partner anymore because her foot was turned the other way. All their efforts . . .

What made me trip up was this time jump from the time she broke her foot to all of a sudden being healed and could skate again. I was happy she could skate again, but I felt like we went straight from the devastation and repercussions of what it meant for Jasmine breaking her foot, to a magic salve of her being able to skate. I wanted to know how emotionally and physically challenging it was for Jasmine not to skate. I wanted to know what Ivan did in that time. Was he training and skating without her or was he waiting for her? What did they do in that time period when she couldn’t skate? Also, she went full-throttle skating when she healed, like wow! What kind of magic was that?

I don’t understand how she brutally broke her foot and could skate after one and a half to two months later like nothing happened? What happened to easing back into a sport?

Also, sis darn nearly broke every bone in her body figure skating her whole life that she couldn’t feel her butt. I don’t think that’s healthy and she should go back to the doctors 😅. I’m concerned.

But yea, I just felt like a chunk of character development or storytelling was missing from when she broke her foot to being healed. Then, the story quickly delved into competition mode like everything with her broken foot never happened. I just felt like the story went from really slow—-training and getting sick and getting mad at her dad and pictures—-to broken foot and competition. I had a feeling Ivan and Jasmine wouldn’t have won because it would have been too easy if they finished out on top and no one likes reading characters who win in a competition😂. Tell me I’m wrong! It builds character when they lose 😂.

I expect characters to lose 😂. I’m joking, I wanted them to win, but it’s better if they lose. It’s like humbling the characters or something 😅.

I loved the moment Ivan gave Jasmine that string bracelet to replace the one her mom or dad gave her. I loved how he got an encryption on it that was meaningful to her. Their relationship was such a stark contrast from someone who detested Ivan’s stinking guts and didn’t trust him to giving him a look that placed all her love and trust into him. That’s crazy. I thought it was iconically cute that Ivan mouthed the words, “I love you” to her on the ice before they started skating. What a perfect way to say his I love you, but maybe not the best moment because it definitely wavered her focus. I would think it would waver her focus to be told she was loved by him because she loved him back. The biggest From Lukov, with love moment for sure.

I loved that her whole family was there, including her dad like I mentioned earlier. Her family is a real one. I loved how even Tali watched from TV because she was home with her kids. We love a supportive family.

But what I loved most was the epilogue and seeing how much Ivan and Jasmine had accomplished in the future together—winning the Olympics and all these competitions. I loved the wholesome scene where we learned they had two kids. They were both retired skaters and they taught figure skating classes at the Lukov Center. They were also on the lookout to train any partners, but hadn’t found the perfect partners to train yet. The epilogue was very wholesome to know how far they had come from hating each other to starting a family and a life together; what started as a year deal as partners turned into a lifetime 💙.

My heart also felt so warm knowing that Jasmine accomplished everything and more. She could have given up at any point in her career, and was close to doing so after everyone telling her she was too old or she should do something else, but life gave her an opportunity she always deserved in order to achieve her dreams. I was so happy reading how she had all these awards she earned and how she was living the life her younger self would have never believed, but always hoped. Again, she didn’t need trophies to amount as someone or to prove anything, but it was nice that she finally got recognition that she deserved. And you know what, it feels good to finally make it or do something for yourself/make something of yourself.

If you ever have a dream, don’t let someone tell you you are too old for it or that you should give up on it because they don’t know you or the limits you will go to achieve that dream. If you firmly believe in yourself and you work towards what you want, trust me, you will everything you hoped for and then some. It takes pain, tears, bleeding, falling and breaking your literal or metaphorical foot, it takes difficult conversations, feeling like you are on your last legs to get there, but you will and it will be even more meaningful to achieve your dreams. Ever since I was little I had a dream of becoming a teacher and going back to my elementary school to teach. I went to college, took the classes, cried my heart out, burnt out, questioned if I wanted to teach, went through a whole pandemic trying to teach, learning, messing up, and doubting myself along the way. But I am now a teacher at my alma mater elementary school. I get to live the dream that my younger self wouldn’t believe but always hoped.

It wasn’t easy, but I did it by never giving up and believing that I could do it.

Don’t give up on your dream. There is nothing more powerful than that.

Anyway, From Lukov With Love was a good story and reminder of the power of working hard towards your dream and believing in yourself. The story also was slow at times and felt like there was more training and simple moments, but the story was still interesting to read. If I’m being quite honest, I didn’t feel the romance between Ivan and Jasmine as much as I would have liked because I’m not an enemies to lovers stan if it feels too brutal or too easy in the way they go from enemies to lovers. I wanted them to actually talk about how or why they liked each other. I know why Ivan liked Jasmine, but I wanted more from Jasmine and for her to really open up to Ivan the way he did with her. I don’t know, something was just missing in their romance for me that felt too easy like they were the protagonists and that’s why they were going to end up together. I wanted to feel their love. I think it was also because their first kiss was so uncalled for that I was like, “Where did that come from?” I just wanted the build up or ease from enemies to lovers to feel smoother. I don’t know if that makes sense. I also wanted a bit more action or different storylines besides just Ivan and Jasmine—some side plots or characterization if you will. Some character development or growth where they learn a lesson from each other or about themselves. Again, not a bad story, just my thoughts. I’m no expert, so my opinion means nothing 😂, but you know, we all have opinions and that’s fine.

I’m a big figure skating fan, I must say. I always wanted to be a figure skater but I don’t live in a climate for figure skating and the closest I’ve come to a figure skating rink is dragging my shoes through a dirt patch on the recess field as a kid. No seriously, on the recess field, there were these patches of dirt and my friends and I would drag our feet on the dirt and pretend you were figure skaters 😂. You can imagine the dirt that flew into the air and the anger our parents felt at wondering why our shoes were so dirty 😅.

Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book? 

Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Rating

3.42 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: Two strong-headed, elegant, and stubborn characters who oddly brought out the best in each other. I admired Jasmine’s passion and resiliency and Ivan’s tenderness and care.

Plot: I loved that the story centered about figure skating because gosh knows we need more figure skating content in books, but I wanted something more. The middle of the book was kind of slow for me and wanted something.

Writing: Mariana Zapata can set a mood and craft strong characters with a goal in mind.

Romance: Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers where I wanted to feel or understand more why they loved each other