From Lukov with Love

by Mariana Zapata

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

From Lukov with Love is my first time reading Mariana Zapata's work. I picked this as part of the Kindle Hispanic Heritage month challenge based on the many positive reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Its nomination in best romance category in 2018 also played a role in influencing my decision. Zapata is dubbed the queen of slow burn romance and after reading From Lukov with Love I can see why.

This was quite the slow burn. The romance, which came out of left field, came into play at around eighty percent into the story. For a book which is over 500 pages/ 14 hours of listening, one would expect the romance would have developed earlier. Of course, at that point, I didn’t buy into this change in their relationship. There was no real development in that area. They had no chemistry, and their interactions lacked the emotions one would expect from two people in love with each other. I never once got the feeling these two liked each other, much less to fall in love. Their constant bickering and name-calling, which was fun at first, became tiresome the deeper one goes into the story one goes.

Now, despite its failure in the romance, From Lukov with Love delivered a lovely story of self-discovery, acceptance and forgiveness. The story shows how the heroine grew throughout the story. She knows what she wants and works hard to achieve her dreams. However, self-doubt and fear of failure held her back. Eventually, she overcame those negatives. I loved the support her family gave her. They believed in her capabilities, even when she doubted herself.

It was interesting seeing the story develop through Jasmine’s eyes. However, it would have nice to get Ivan’s POV. Without Ivan’s POV, the reader couldn’t tell when he developed romantic feelings for Jasmine. As the story was told mainly from Jasmine’s POV, the reader spends a lot of time in her head. From there, one sees her insecurities. However, Jasmine’s character was quite abrasive. One may find it difficult to like her. It took me quite a while to warm up to her.

I am still on the fence where Ivan I concerned. He behaves like a jerk for most of the story. Then, when Jasmine fell ill, his tender side reared up. It felt forced, and personally, I thought he showed that side because he needed her to get better for their competition. The story provided some comic relief at the right moment. It helped to balance out the moments where Jasmine’s inner monologue became tiresome.

Although From Lukov with Love did not wow me, I will not hesitate to try another one of Zapa’s books.

The story’s narration was performed by Callie Dalton and Teddy Hamilton. Callie’s delivery of Jasmine’s wit, passion, sarcasm, and self-doubt was on point. This is my first time listening to Callie, and I thought she did a wonderful job. Teddy’s narration occurs whenever dialogue for Ivan’s character comes into play. He did an excellent job of bringing Ivan’s character to life. This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading