3.5 stars

*ARC Review*

I love Mazey Eddings' books. I love how she creates unique and detailed voices her for characters. She always handles topics of neurodiversity with grace and care.

Late Bloomer is no exception to my past statements, however I had a lot of trouble getting into this story. The book did not really grab my attention and I was having trouble rooting for the characters. I am not sure if it is because the story felt like it had a mash up of tropes that never really came to fruition (I think there was some enemies to lovers there?), or if it just because I couldn't relate to the characters. The relationship arc was choppy and did not really make a ton of sense to me, I think it may be because of the dual POV. I also am just not a fan of the hidden will story line.

I did love all of the talk of the flowers and the beautiful cover but I wish this novel was able to bloom to its full potential. It was cute and sweet but did not grab me and make me feel something like her others have. For what the story was the epilogue was quite satisfying which is always a good thing!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

Yes, yes, yes, 100% yes. I needed this book so much.

The way that I absolutely resonated with Opal. The way that Pepper was the most endearing person to me. The way that they both grew as human beings and made each other better, despite their crappy situation. I absolutely, completely, wholeheartedly loved this book.

Seriously. I cannot stop gushing about it. I am a literal ball of happiness that this book exists. 5 stars, 10/10, two thumbs enthusiastically way up, absolutely no notes. This was perfection.

What a cute and funny read! I too will now be referring to my hangry moods as “becoming a cuntasaurus Rex”
If you are looking for a close proximity, opposites attract, small town romance this is your book. Perfect for lovelight farms fans but looking for something a little more sapphic!

"Late Bloomer" by Mazey Eddings is a heartfelt coming-of-age story that follows the journey of a young woman named Nora who feels like she's always lagging behind her peers in life milestones. As she navigates through the challenges of adulthood, Nora learns to embrace her unique path and discovers that success and fulfillment don't always adhere to societal timelines. Through her experiences, she finds the courage to pursue her passions and redefine what it means to bloom in her own time.

Many people can empathize with the feeling of being a late bloomer or feeling like they're not meeting societal expectations. Stories like this often resonate with readers because they offer reassurance and encouragement to embrace one's unique journey and timeline in life. It seems like "Late Bloomer" could be an inspiring and uplifting read for those seeking validation in their own paths to success and self-discovery.

LOVE THIS. give me more summer sapphic romances! loved the characters as well as the story. found a new favorite author in this one! thank you so much for the arc.

This is a lighthearted and enjoyable sapphic romance between two people who unexpectedly become roommates when they each believe they are the rightful owners of the same flower farm. They wind up as lovers while living together and working on a big project.

Both Opal and Pepper are characters that are easy to like for their own reasons, and the building of the romantic and sexual tension was well done so that I was ready for them to finally get together when they did.

If you're looking for a romance with a bit of drama but also a happily ever after (and are willing to suspend some disbelief about how two people might actually deal with a situation where they thought they owned the same house) then this book is a good one to pick up.

Thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and to Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy. These opinions are my own.

I am so pleased that Mazey Eddings wrote a sapphic romance featuring two neurodivergent characters. Opal wins the lottery and decides to buy a flower farm to use as a studio for her art. But when she arrives, she finds that Pepper lives there and believes she owns her grandmother's farm.

I absolutely loved all the discussion of flowers and art. I love to garden and all the puns and growing really spoke to me. I was also a huge fan of the found family that Pepper has. It spoke so well to the kinds of safe spaces that queer people can create. I equally enjoyed Opal's sisters and would have loved to see more flashbacks of Pepper's grandmother. The secondary characters really stole the story for me.

But some parts of the book felt a bit too outlandish for me. I struggled with suspending disbelief from the initial lottery win through some of the various choices that followed. And the climax in particular really lost me.

Ellie Gossage narrated beautifully and captured the spirit of both main characters. I expect many people to love this book.

3.5 stars rounded up

When Opal wins the lottery all sorts of “friends” come back into her life out of nowhere. As a notorious people pleaser, Opal struggles with this new popularity and decides the best way to protect herself is through a fresh start. So she buys a flower farm on Facebook marketplace. When she arrives at the farms she’s surprised to find Pepper is already living there and claims to be the rightful owner. They strike a deal, Pepper can stay there while she tries to save the farm from bankruptcy and eventually buy the farm back from Opal, meanwhile Opal will also stay there and start her new show business. But how can they cohabitate when they seem to argue over every little thing?

I just love Mazey Eddings’ writing - her characters are always incredible and authentic. They are a bit chaotic and messy, but also so compassionate and caring at heart. Opal and Pepper are the perfect examples of this. This book features autism and ADHD representation and is done so beautifully. In so many ways, both Pepper and Opal are misunderstood, but as you get through their many layers, you find the sweetest characters and I wanted them to succeed in life from page one. I loved the premise of this - from Opal winning the lottery and chaotically buying a flower farm, to her teaming up with Pepper to save the farm, this was the grumpy and sunshine romance of my flower loving dreams. I want to visit Thistle and Bloom farm immediately - or at least buy a bouquet from them. This was the sweetest journey of two women healing from their past traumas and finding their paths in life and I loved that they were able to find those paths together.

I loved the audiobook narrated by Ellie Gossage. While she did a phenomenal job bringing the story to life, I do wish there had been 2 narrators to more clearly distinguish between Pepper and Opal’s points of view. There were a few times I got confused about who’s perspective I was listening to.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copies.

I've been a fan of Mazey's for a while now, even before she became an author. She's funny, she's sweet, she's just such a delight to watch.
She brings so much of her personality into the books she writes, it's no wonder I end up adoring them all and this was no exception.

This was such a good sapphic grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers romance. It's so heartfelt. I loved how soft it was, but also how spicy it was too. The pacing was perfect for me in an enemies to lovers. It's not Opal's fault she's in the situation she's in and she's really trying to not make Pepper's life difficult, which Pepper gradually comes to terms with.

Overall, I loved it. It's beautifully written and I continue to look forward to anything Mazey writes.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

Amazing!!!

The writing was everything! Mazey really is such an amazing author. This book was so good! The plot, the characters, and the spice!!! I could not get enough of it!

First things first, I went into this without any idea other than I loved the author’s last book, which was YA. This was definitely for the adults and absolutely no complaints from me about that! I hadn’t read a steamy romance in a minute and this just made me giddy.

I loved everything about it. The neurodivergent rep was perfection, the spice was spicing, and I want to be besties with Opal and Pepper. Do yourself a favor and go grab this one today!!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a tricky one for me to review. I ended up switching between eyeball reading and audio. I LOVED the audio. The narration made it really easy to follow and I was engaged. The personalities of each character really shined with the narration.

To enjoy this book I think you have to suspend reality a bit. The premise is a little ridiculous (winning 100k and quitting your life to buy a flower farm and sell shoes?) but as long as you keep that surface level of investment the story is fantastic.

Don't think too hard. Enjoy the characters and the ridiculousness of the plot. The spice was really good.

I had some issues with the autism/adhd rep, because it seemed sometimes the characters' neurodivergent traits were really competing with each other to the point where neither character felt truly and fully developed. I know Mazey does a lot of research for this so I imagine this is more relatable to some readers than it was for me.

I loved Pepper. I came around to Opal. There is some third act messiness that I am never a huge fan of but thankfully it resolved quickly. As a whole, there was not a lot of true conflict. Again - great for a lighter read with enough tension to keep it interesting but it won't cause stress to read it. Unless the juvenile nature of Opal starts to grate on you.

Love this author. Easy to read book. Will recommend to readers of sapphic romance.

4.5 stars!
I loved these little neurospicy, sapphic, flower babes so stinkin much!!
As a queer, artistic, gardener myself, I loved so many aspects of this book. The character development was really well done and both Opal and Pepper were so multidimensional.
The dialogue had me laughing at loud so many times, it was so fun to read!
I can’t wait to read more of Mazey’s work!!

I was really excited to read this book after reading, and loving, The Plus One last year.
Let me start by saying that I really appreciated the autism/neurodiversity representation in this story. I loved how different both Pepper and Opal were even though they were both on the spectrum. I feel like this is something that we need to see more often, and I loved that it made the characters feel more real.
I will say that I struggled a little bit with the romance because we do have more of a lust first romance second relationship. I really would have liked more development of the actual romance, because we didn't get to see that as much on page. Once the physical relationship started there were at least 3 big sex scenes that were very involved (for whomever wants to know).
I also thought that the near-ending/third act break up/misunderstanding felt contrived and not as important as it would have needed to be.

I also don't actually know if this is a spoiler, but <spoiler>Pepper is a virgin. I know that this book is called Late Bloomer and I should have guessed. But I didn't. I felt like the reason that she was a virgin was because she was autistic and I wasn't sure I really liked the whole reasoning. I do think that you can be an older virgin with no problem. But something about it rubbed me the wrong way.</spoiler>

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i dnf this book @ 46%, i don’t really understand the main characters and also as a couple as well! i love a good saphic romance but im not sure if i would continue with this author

Just finished reading it last night!! It was sooo good, the characters were so relatable dealing with anxiety, autism, grief, found family, and complicated family relationships! I thoroughly enjoyed it

4/5 stars -- thank you netgalley and the publisher! i thought this was cliche and adorable, however please note that i am a sucker - absolute sucker - for sapphic love stories. i could relate pretty deeply with pepper and her initial disdain towards opal. it very much was relatable in some ways. i can also always appreciate a romance book that touches on sensitive topics like grief, bad parental relationships, and books that don't do the third act break-up and actually have plot and character development.

Lesson learned, Mazey Eddings is not an author for me. I will not be going into a huge amount of detail here, because I think that a large part of my reaction is down to preference, and that's hard to explain (and also makes you sound like a jerk). But I will say that these characters read like fake puppet people to me, moving at the author's whims. The dialogue also felt incredibly cheesy and constructed to me, not true to life or her characterization, which by the way I also felt was a mess. Particularly Opal, who is a self-effacing doormat who is also somehow brash and friendly and outgoing. In my experience, people who have that little self-esteem are not usually troublemakers, they are go-alongers, and Mazey Eddings wasn't a good enough writer to make that contradiction make sense. An extremely beautiful book cover that tricked me into a reading a subpar romance. I am honestly baffled at the positive reviews, and some from people I love and trust! Taste is truly a mystery.

[2.5 stars]

just a soft lil romance u can tune ur brain off too and chill with, I really have been waiting for a cozy sapphic romance w sweet vibes and this tickled my pickle

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book and I very much enjoyed it! Opal is a quirky whirlwind of vibrancy and color and Pepper is a calm breeze but underneath it all stirs a much deeper soul. This book is all about love, loss, fresh starts, finding yourself, and learning to trust and give your heart, as hard as that can be! I loved seeing Opal and Pepper slowly learn each other and grow together in such a magical way and the cast of chosen and actual family brought such laughter and light. While a few bad apples tried to spoil the bunch, love wins and all the giggles, tears, grief, struggles, and confusion were well worth it. I really enjoyed the setting and premise of this one and it was a heartwarming one to boot!