3.5-4ish stars. This is my favorite Mazey Eddings book so far. I've been in the mood for sapphic contemporaries and this just hit the spot. I love the queer and neurodivergent rep along with the found family aspect. You can tell how much the author enjoyed writing this story and those are my favorite books.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my copy to review.

Mazey Eddings is truly one of my favorite authors ever. Her ability to write the most gentle and loving romances featuring the most real and raw characters is incredible!!!!!

First of all, I am Pepper and Pepper is me!!!!!!!! I understood her so deeply. I found myself often saying sammmee when it came to Peppers POV. She just makes sense to me and I loved seeing her grow and heal and love and be love and gosh I wish she were a real person so we could be best friends!!!! When her friend said to her "just say you're queer and move on" hit home for me. The exhaustion of trying to find a label that works when so many feel right and wrong and finally feeling comfortable saying you're queer is a feeling I know all too well.

Opal honestly reminded me a lot of Mazey herself. Their energies just match. Opal is so sweet it was rotting my teeth!!!!! I really loved that she was able to discover herself in this story. Her journey is so real and often I feel like it's looked over. I love her relationship with her sisters and low key would love a second story featuring one of them.

Overall this story is so sweet and I highly recommend!!!! The cute cover really does match the story.

While this wasn't my favorite Mazey Eddings book, I did enjoy the lighthearted storyline and the neurodivergent rep. I would have enjoyed the forced proximity more if there had been more tension to it.

I snagged an ARC of this adorable book on Netgalley, and I am grateful it came my way!

Opal is your quintessential nice girl—always saying yes, always giving second chances, and a hopeless romantic with an artistic soul, eager to make her mark in subtle, meaningful ways. She's relatable, like someone you know, maybe even like you. Following her journey as she navigates what to do with a mind-blowing lottery win was a blast.

She buys a flower farm because what else would a dreamer do, right? Turns out, the farm’s nearly broke, and it comes with a grumpy Pepper (and not the spice kind). This sets the stage for a classic hate-to-love scenario that's just impossible to tire of. I was completely hooked, living vicariously through their ups and downs.

The book dives deep into the psyche of the "too-nice-girl," challenging the notion that being overly kind is a flaw. It’s a strength. The mantra here is poignant: "Hope doesn't hurt you. People do." And it’s a reminder that expecting kindness and empathy isn't asking too much.

Imagine being a neurodivergent artist who suddenly has the means to explore life’s complexities. That’s Opal’s reality, a heartfelt exploration of understanding and love. Watching Opal and Pepper grow together was a delight.

And Mazey Eddings? She’s done something special here. The author's note moved me—it’s clear she poured her heart into these pages.

This was my first Mazey Edding's book and certainly not my last. The cover alone drew me into this book, and it's so damn pretty. Including a new sapphic romance, I'm all in. Opal buys a flower farm from a random stranger on the internet, who she finds out is Pepper's mother, whom Pepper doesn't have the best relationship with. Opal gets to the flower farm, only to find out from Pepper, that she might have been scammed and Pepper is the rightful owner of the flower farm. They decide to work it out, but not without some bumps along the way. The pacing of the story felt a little off. The enemies-to-lovers storyline felt a bit fast to me, and they started getting along and developing feelings for each other right away. I was hoping for more of the "we need to enter this contest to save the farm" storyline. It felt rushed, and not cared for. It felt like it was just thrown into the book for a storyline, but it wasn't executed well enough for it to be memorable. Towards the end, it became more of a "let's just go have sex" storyline, but that's okay because I love a little steam in my romance books. I did love the character development for both Opal and Pepper. They did come out of their shells and opened up with one another about their personal problems and worked on it as a team. Overall, I did enjoy this story. I was rooting for Opal and Pepper the whole time, and if you read this, I hope you fell in love with them as much as I did.

Did Not Finish at page 87 (26%)

After reading and absolutely loving Mazey Eddings’ previous book, Tilly In Technicolor, I was excited to get into Late Bloomer and get more of this author’s writing!

Unfortunately, Late Bloomer just didn’t end up being for me.

My first clue that this book wouldn’t be for me came in the form of the characters themselves and their viewpoints on life. Our main character, Opal, wins the lottery and is immediately ambushed by a long list of people coming out of the woodwork to ask her for money. The love interest, Pepper, has recently had to deal with her grandma’s death and soon learns that her beloved flower farm has been sold right out from under her. Both of these characters are in rather low points in their lives and think life is terrible, making for a depressing opening to this book that I honestly wasn’t excited to read.

From this opening, however, a lot of this book seems to balance on a reader’s suspension of disbelief in order to tell it’s story. When Opal and Pepper realize what has happened, the two decide they’re just… going to live together. In the same house. Until Pepper can pay back what Opal paid for the farm. And while I think every genre deserves a certain level of suspension of disbelief in order to make it work, I don’t think contemporary romance can survive on quite this much willful ignorance.

Late Bloomer also relies on insta lust in order to get its characters together. Within pages of Opal and Pepper meeting each other, we’re getting descriptions of their attraction to each other, with longing looks and distractions as one is a little too focused on the others’ body. These two have barely had a conversation, yet they’re already holding themselves back from wanting to sleep with the other? Why is Pepper looking at Opal in that kinda way as Opal is saying “I promise I’m not a serial killer lol”??

I ended up not enjoying myself with the beginning of this book, but stuck with it until I was a quarter of the way through before deciding to say enough was enough and DNFed it.

This one had great neurodivergent, mental health, and LGBTQ rep! Unfortunately it missed the mark on timing and dialogue for me.

listen. i love mazey and her writing. i’ve read everything she’s ever released. but i am currently withholding any review due to the smp boycott

Winning the lottery ruined Opal's life. Despite being a people pleaser, she's frustrated with her "friends" coming around asking for handouts once she's overflowing with cash. On a whim, Opal buys a flower farm where she can exist in nature and focus on being an artist, painting shoes into the sunset. Enter Pepper, the woman who states she’s the rightful owner of Thistle and Bloom Farms, and isn’t moving out. Until the two can figure things out, they come up with an agreement to cohabitate in close quarters.

Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by Late Bloomer. The concept was kind of let down and very unbelievable–more unbelievable than even a cheesy Hallmark romcom movie. I really had to fight the urge to DNF and fought through, but it didn't get any better like I hoped. Most importantly, the sex scenes literally made me cringe. I was not buying the romance, the plot or the emotional depth the author was trying to explore. However, the cover, designed by sapphic artist Jenifer Prince, IS TO DIE FOR.

While I have a soft spot for Pepper, I could not stand the annoying and one-dimensional Opal. Their chemistry was lacklustre and their entire situationship was up and down so much it was like watching a yo-yo on a string. It got old fast and I was just bored.

That said, if you love opposites attract, forced proximity, strangers to friends to lovers, friends with benefits and miscommunication tropes, Late Bloomer just might be for you. I think it's also important to note this book explores ideologies and actions that may be triggering to some readers including conversations surrounding the loss of a family member, grief and emotionally abusive parents.

To end this on a positive note, I would like to highlight the autism rep, undiagnosed ADHD rep, and disability (painful migraines) rep. It's really wonderful to see these explored more in contemporary romances, but I cannot specifically comment on if it was done well or not.

After opal wins the lottery she buys a flower farm. Turns out it wasn't hers to buy.
Her and pepper come to a deal that pepper will slowly buy it back but it turns out love has other plans
Lgbtq

I adore Mazey Eddings' books, and this was no exception. I appreciated how unabashedly chaotic Opal is and the tender, burgeoning romance between Opal and Pepper against the backdrop of flowers and art and awkward self-discovery was simply delightful!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. It was light and fluffy, and I loved the neurodivergent rep in both main characters. The grumpy x sunshine vibes were perfect, and both women were well developed characters. All in all, a very fun and cottage core contemporary sapphic romance.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

I really enjoyed the book overall but I wish there was more chemistry between Opal and Pepper. There was some insta-love there which is not my favorite trope. I really liked the ending though.

This was a nice little opposites attract romance. The setting was delightful, and the main characters were well drawn and likable. I thought the portrayal of two neurodivergent folks getting together was well done. Aspects of their personalities were explored in a non-judgemental way while still demonstrating how their neurodivergence affected their ability to form new relationships. The spice was nice too. It happened fairly soon in the book and continued throughout. Not the hottest I've read, but certainly was enjoyable.

Mazey Eddings did it again! I have thoroughly enjoyed every book of hers that I've read, and her debut LGBTQ romance was no different! Though there were themes of grief, emotional abuse, mental illness, etc, the author still was able to approach all of the struggles the characters faced in a easily digestible way which I appreciated. Opal and Pepper's story was a heartwarming tale of two lost souls finding each other and finding a way to connect with each other and let love in.

I adore a good sapphic romance, but I cannot handle miscommunications and bad decision-making. So LATE BLOOMER was a bit of a draw for me. Opal has a history of not standing up for herself and making a mess of her life. She's known for her impulsivity--best displayed when she wins the lottery and buys a farm, sight unseen. When she arrives, she finds Pepper living there. Unbeknownst to Pepper, her mom sold the flower farm, which belonged to Pepper's late grandmother, out from under her.

Now, here's where most logical people would turn to crazy things like lawyers and wills and deeds, right? But no, Pepper and Opal make the only rational decision: they will live together on said farm, in the same house, while they figure things out and Pepper determines a way to make the floral business profitable and buy out Opal.

As they do, the two yo-yo through emotions like no one's business. We're up, we're down, we're up again! I could not keep up. We're talking, we're hiding things, we're lying, we're being honest. Sure, Pepper has trust issues thanks to her con artist mom (exhibit A: sells farm where daughter is living), but does she have to dislike Opal simply because she's kind? As for Opal, girl, take your deed to a lawyer and stop all this insanity and pining. Because, of course, our girls are alternatively hating each other and wanting to take one another's pants off. There's no character development leading up to any of this.

Over the course of the story, Pepper and Opal did grow on me. (Though, please, just look through your documents when a relative passes away!) I enjoyed how neurodiverse friendly this tale was, and it covered autism and ADHD rather thoughtfully. It's bi-friendly and practically every character is queer in some way--hurrah! Eddings delves into themes of finding yourself, being worthy of love, and having what you deserve in life. This is a cute story, even if the characters are a little thin and the plot a bit frustrating at times.

"Fuck anything and anyone that made you have to survive instead of live. You deserve a life so peaceful it feels deliciously boring. A life filled with flowers and sunny days and people that show you all the time that you're valued and worthy. You deserve it all."

This book was absolutely covered in sweetness! I adore Opal and Pepper and was actually kicking my feet and giggling watching them fall for each other. I will say, the lottery and purchasing of the farm was a pretty chaotic plotline, but it didn't bother me that much considering I don't read for realism. I do wish there would have been more of the flower farm and flower activities in general included in the story. It's just personally my favorite trope so I love when we get lots of flower related things, and while there is some, it isn't until the end. Additionally, Pepper and Opal don't feel very fleshed out to me. What we do get of them I love so much but I wish there was more depth to me.

Overall, this is such a fun read! I did the audiobook specifically and enjoyed it so much. The narrator did an excellent job at both voices and making it feel immersive. I'm excited to continue reading more of Mazey's work!

i started this in march and read more than half of it then but couldn’t continue for some reason. i hadnt been enjoying any romance books at all so i thought maybe the problem was me being cynical lol but my audiobook hold came through on libby and i listened to the rest of it and i’m still not really vibing with it for some reason… i love mazey’s other works but this didn’t work for me sadly, will def read more of her works tho bc i love love love her other works!

2.5 stars

I want to preface this by saying I don't read contemporary romance, its not a genre i usually pick up or am usually interested in, but decided to pick up this book because its sapphic, and I figured if anything can get me to read contemporary romance it'll be a sapphic love story.
I was wrong.
No beef with the author or the book in general, but i was terribly bored. I wished i had like it more, characters are fine, story is fine, setting is fire. As a farming games enthusiast i thought it was perfect for me, but it was almost painful to get through, even now i have around 60 pages left and have no desire whatsoever to read them.
Opal isn't nearly as bad as I've read people make her out to be, she obviously has her issues, but isn't annoying or grating. She's had a myriad of issues her whole life, and is just trying to get by. The fact she wins the lottery and goes "yeah imma buy a farm" i feel that deep in my bones, i would do the same, plus seeing her slowly gaining a spine throughout the book? pretty nice
Pepper i feel deeply because i too am autistic, she's literally just trying and doing her best with the awful hand she was given, and seeing her be a little softer to herself towards the end of the book is so good, seeing her warm up and get the things she deserves is so heartwarming.
Side characters are okay, Diksha, grandma Lou and Trish are the one's I can actually remember and they provide enough to the story. Diksha always pulling though for Pepper makes me so emotional
The setting is perfect, it's literally every single farming/dating sim out there. Tired of city life, somehow gets a farm in the middle of nowhere and oops here's the quirky love interest which you will only conquer after doing some farm work, learning their interest, giving them a few gifts, winning a competition to favor them and suddenly you've won over the farmer's heart.
And yet somehow it still falls short
It might very much be because this is not my genre, but it was almost painful to read, I actively don't want to finish it and i Had to force myself to at least read enough so i can give my thoughts.
If you already read contemporary romance and you want a cute sapphic story, it's definitely for you.
If you don't already read contemporary romance, and your bigger genres are things like historical fantasy, the sapphics won't save it for you
2/5

In my mind, Mazey Eddings can do no wrong. There will never be a day I don’t read her books. This was such a sweet romance and as usual the character development and relationships were perfection! Mazey is great at creating those connections between you and the characters so that you are left wanting more. She’s done it again and I cannot wait for her next read!