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.

Including Ivan Lukov.

I’ve heard from several people that Mariana Zapata’s love story features one or sometimes both of these two things—angst and slow burn. I can’t even be surprised when I experience the slow burn aspect of that in From Lukov with Love.

From Lukov with Love is told in the sole POV of Jasmine Santos. She is a figure skater and after seventeen years, she’s aware that it is almost time to hang up the skates. Until an offer to be the partner of Ivan Lukov, a fellow skater who she has spent almost as long hating, lands in her lap. She’s hesitant at first but eventually she agrees.

I enjoyed the book. It wasn’t terrible. The issue is that I felt this book was overly long for no reason. Both Ivan and Jasmine were likeable enough, despite at times feeling too immature. And I liked their chemistry and their banter. That is what kept me reading. But 500+ pages? I think we could have knocked off at least 200 of those.

And despite that large page count, it felt choppy. There are few moments in this book that stand out. And as for romance? Well, it’s more than a slow burn. When they finally got together, the book was almost over.

Final Analysis

From Lukov with Love had an excessive amount of pages and little romance at times. Still, when it’s good, it’s good.

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