You know that Taylor Swift song, Cruel Summer and there's a part that goes :-

"I love you," ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?
He looks up grinning like a devil...

And yes, Ladies and Gentleman, THESE LYRICS KEPT REPLAYING

EVERY. SINGLE. FREAKING. TIME. IVAN LUKOV. COMES. INTO. THE. SCENE.

Lowkey this is my first ever Mariana Zapata and I swear, THE AMOUNT OF ANGST AND AGHHHHH

LORD. THIS BOOK. IS. EVERYTHING.

This would be ONE HECK of a messy review so please bare with me :')

The thing about this book was how subtle the love interest is. How there are two grumpy characters that just BLOODY WORKS .

AND. LORD. THEIR. CHEMISTRY.

I swear, its like watching a k-drama came to life, with all the angst , the family drama, the self-doubt.

I knew Mariana Zapata was ✨THE Queen✨ of Slow-Burn, but lord, can I just buy Ivan somewhere on Shopee or Amazon? Like this man ........ AGHHHHHH. Not only he's super protective, he's just this really big mush of happiness and the fact that he cares so MUCH ABOUT JASMINE AND LORD... AND HE'S BEEN IN LOVE WITH HER SINCE FOREVER??????

I can't. My heart just did a double take with EVERY. BLOODY. SINGLE. SWEET. GESTURE. that he does. Its literally THE LITTLE THINGS and I swear, this book came out being somewhat a comfort read for me.

Lowkey at first, I can't deny there were a few repetitive scenes that well... got me slightly annoyed. Its the fact that they're BOTH grumpy, and the female character is strong and sassy, but in some ways , I understood why she reacted as she did, and in that sense, their chemistry literally blurs out everything else. I loved how Zapata not only highlighted the love interest , and slowly builds friendship and trust between both of them, she had included a dilemma of an athlete that has been doing the sport since she was younger, never feeling adequate about herself. I loved that Jasmine is this stubborn character that wants to stand up on her own two feet and lord I love her family, and Ivan and again EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in here.

For me a good slow burn is when the two characters builds their romance slowly, on a pace that is realistic, and for me THIS is it. GOSHHHHHHH. The fact that I appreciate figure skating as it is makes this a more enjoyable read for me. I love Jasmine's growth as a character, and I love the fact that their love was from somewhat enemies (WHO ARE SO PETTY WITH ONE ANOTHER) to friends to lovers and it just felt natural between the two of them. Ivan Lukov had made me shed UGLY HAPPY TEARS BECAUSE THE BLOODY MAN KNOWS WHEN TO DO STUFF.

Their moments together are so intimate (AND ITS NOT EVEN A SPICY SCENE). Its the little things, the small moments and just the fact that they're both super comfortable to be with one another makes this book such a wholesome read. I love that we tackle not only Jasmine's issues, but also they resolved what had been the problem between the two of them, in a mature way that makes my heart SWOOOOOON.

Anyways, I won't say much, but agh just READ THE BOOK. I CAN'T. MY HEART?! IVAN LUKOV CAN TAKE IT I WON'T EVEN MIND :')

Biggest thank you to Pansing Distributions for the gifted copy!