From Lukov with Love

by Mariana Zapata

[Leigha]

Ice skater Jasmine Santos pairs with her arch nemesis in this adorable, sweet adult romance.

I picked this novel up on Amazon when I saw it was nominate for the romance category on Goodreads. I’m…not sure what I expected. Did I expect an enemies to lovers story? Nope. Did I expect so much attention to be placed on ice skating? Nada. Did I expect to be utterly charmed by the Santos family? Nope, nope, and a big fat nope. Thinking back, I wonder if I even read the synopsis before I started reading.

The romance between Jasmine and Lukov is the best part of the novel. Their trust is built slowly over time to something truly beautiful. Trust is important to any relationship and crucial to pairs figure skating. Their growth from enemies to friends to lovers matched their evolving relationship on the ice. If you’re looking for a romance with lots of sexy times, this novel may not be for you. It’s truly a slowly built romance between two individuals with an estranged past. You discover the complexities of Lukov as Jasmine does. I suspect many people will fall head over hills for Lukov as Jasmine and myself did. If I had one quibble, it would be the way they show their antagonism. Jasmine, in particular, suffered from appearing petulant and whiny when she disagreed with someone’s actions. I’m not saying grown women can’t act that way, I’m saying a grown woman shouldn’t act that way during every single situation, big or small, that crops up to antagonize her. Considering half the story is Lukov intentionally (and unintentionally) antagonizing her, her behavior got old fast.

The setting and secondary characters added a richness and depth to the novel. The figure skating was particularly fascinating. Everyone relating this book to the The Cutting Edge movie is on the mark. It truly has a wonderful blend of romance and skating. I also loved the secondary characters, particularly Jasmine’s family. They felt fun, relatable, and unique in a pretty straightforward story. I could read vignettes of their dinners together every day of the week. Some of the family’s story did feel unfinished by the end of the story, which felt odd considering this is a standalone novel. In particular, why did the mom start drinking so much? I felt tension between the mom and her current husband, and yet it never develops into anything.

tl;dr A great enemies to lovers story, this romance will sure to satisfy fans hungry for a slowly built romance between complex characters.