I've loved all of Mazey's books that I've read so far and this gets added to the list. Both Opal and Pepper were such complex, unique, and well-developed characters. I was rooting for both of them both individually and collectively. I thought the neurodivergent representation was so well done. I also love that this took place in a flower farm, it felt so immersive and pretty. Mazey also delved into grief and a neglectful parent and while these were heavier topics, she handled them with grace and care. The Sapphic rep was so cute and I loved the cast of queer characters as well! There was no real third act break-up which made me like it even more. This was full of chaos, sweet moments and lots of validation and I really enjoyed that. Thank you to SMP romance and Netgalley for the e-ARC to read and review!

I adored this book. Opal and Pepper grabbed my heart and didn’t let go. I also loved the world that was created in this book and would love to see future stories about Opal and Pepper’s friends and family. The sex scenes in this book are hot and don’t skimp on the details. The only issue I had is that the Opal seems like a different person from the character we meet in the very beginning to when she arrives in North Carolina. She went from a (seemingly) meek person who lets people walk over her to a supremely confident person almost overnight. I would have liked to see a little more of her growth on the page. Eddings has written a tender, emotional romance that handles neurodivergence and grief in a realistic way. Highly recommend.

"There is no happy ending that could ever, ever come from this nightmare."

Surprise! Opal and Pepper DO get their happy ending and it's beautiful. When Opal wins the lottery off a scratch off, she decides to use the money for a fresh start and a flower farm. Pepper's grumpy welcome is no match for Opal's bright and sunshine-y personality. This is a beautiful story of growth and family and grief.

This book was such a fresh breath of air. I absolutely loved everything about it. Eddings creates two distinct voices of messy, honest, compelling women. And the side characters are just PERFECT. This book made Eddings an auto buy for me and I can't wait to read her back list!

Late Bloomer... Is a book that definitely lives up to its name. The beginning of the book was giving me major cringe vibes with Opal being a major pushover and with impulse control issues. I may have actually been reading it with one eye because I wasn't prepared for a lot of the chaos that Opal brings to herself, which is probably good because it really set me up for the next phase of the book when we meet Pepper, and more importantly, their meet cute/disaster. Also I wasn't sure if I could handle much more "old Opal" at that point. Once our heroines get to know each other it is a wonderful blossoming (pun intended) of not only their relationship but also working through their issues and learning to trust themselves and each other. In a way their relationship is a quiet growth and the comfort of them being there for each other but also very much misreading each other, especially due to them both being neurodivergent. It was really heartwarming seeing them navigate their relationship and also incredibly sensually steamy. It had the slow pace of a Regency sexual encounter and I loved how they took time to get to know each other and their tenderness. The ending was not necessarily what I expected, which was great and the epilogue served up the Lesbian cottage core we were all waiting for.

Steam: 🔥🔥
Heart Flutters: ❤️❤️

This book was so sweet and fun! It was definitely a shorter and simpler story that read more like a short story but I really enjoyed it! The bisexual and neurodivergent representation was so great and I loved all of the side characters! The setting of a flower farm was very random but fit the vibes of the book perfectly! It was a sweet romance and a very fun read!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

DNF @ 27 %

Ugh this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I LOVE Mazey’s other books. I was so excited to see a neurodivergent sapphic romance from her! Unfortunately I’m nearly 1/3 of the way in and I have no idea what direction this book is heading in. The characters feel too naive for women in their twenties and I found myself skimming over the last two chapters to see if I could get to a good part. I tried to get over the fact that Opal won the lottery and spent $300,000 on a farm she found on FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE. I really did. Then her family let her go off to this new place alone? Opal is giving me too much anxiety with her life choices 😂

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

Late Bloomer is an adorable story about two women who are shoved into an impossible situation and realize there might be more to their relationship than they originally thought. The characters are quirky and loveable with real worries and insecurities that are relatable and understandable. Pepper's sweet Grandma Lou - I wish there were more of her. She was wise and kind, and I wanted her to wrap me in a hug. While the content definitely wasn't young adult, the writing style very much felt YA. It was great to have neurodiverse representation, although there were moments it didn't read as very realistic. Opal started off as a huge pushover, people pleaser, and then all of a sudden morphed into this spitfire. I wasn't quite sure how she got from A to B so quickly. I really liked her spitfire personality, but it seemed to have developed overnight.

Overall, this was a really cute contemporary LGBT romance. I will definitely be recommending to my romance loving friends!

Though I'm giving Late Bloomer four stars, like The Plus One, it is definitely my favourite of the three Mazey Eddings books I've read. They seem to keep getting better as they are published! This is a dual POV, which I always enjoy, though I will admit that Opal and Pepper were written so similarly that sometimes I had to flip back to remember who was narrating the chapter. But despite that, this is a steamy, sapphic, close-proximity, enemies-to-lovers story that I recommend! (Oh, and there's a mention of Lizzie's bakery for any Lizzie Blake fans!)

What didn’t work for me

The thin plot: I really did like this book—a lot. This is why it might be confusing when I say that I felt that the plot was really...lacking. Other than cutting flowers and having lots of sex—with some family/friend dynamics thrown in—not much happens. Time passed quickly (sometimes weeks at a time) and I just felt that there was another event or something that needed to happen. I'm not quite sure. Opal also had these friends at the beginning that come back near the end of the book, but I could have done either without them entirely or for them to be a little more involved.

The lottery: I will say that Eddings doesn't dwell on the whole lottery thing, but I just think that winning the lottery is such a far-fetched thing to happen that it makes me suspend my disbelief too much. I almost would have preferred if Opal inherited money somehow or just came about it a different way. Their repayment plan for the farm also never made sense—so I kind of just chose to ignore it.

What I liked

The neurodiversity: When I was reviewing Lizzie Blake, I couldn't relate to her ADHD and I felt like the plot focused a little bit too much on it. A few more books under Edding's belt, and I think she nails the neurodiversity angle. We definitely don't forget that Pepper is autistic by the way her POV is written or by the way she reacts, but it isn't a major point that is constantly driven home, nor is it the only interesting thing about her.

The sex: I don't think I've ever read a sapphic story with this much detail in the steamy scenes. Eddings has always written intimacy well—and that's no different here. These characters have a lot of good sex, and, quite frankly, there are a lot of pages dedicated to their sex life, but it is well-written and realistic.

Opal's sisters and Pepper's friends: Oh, how I wish we had more of these people in the book. Opal's sisters are hilarious and blunt and pretty much exactly how I would imagine two older sisters would be. Pepper's friends (especially Dikta) were so much fun to spend time with. One of my favourite scenes was Pepper's birthday—it should have lasted a whole weekend!

4 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced book copy in exchange for my honest review.

i enjoyed this one throughly!! sapphic romances that are this good are very rare and i am very glad i got a chance to get this one.

my feedback comes late as i do stand in support of the SMP boycott but i do love this book dearly

Late Bloomer is a sapphic romance that feels like a Hallmark channel movie. Female main character Opal wins the lottery and buys a flower farm on an impulse. However the flower farms original owner (Pepper) wasn’t aware of this. They end up cohabiting despite their clashing personalities. It was cute but also a bit cliche and maybe just too warm and fuzzy, low stakes/ low conflict for me. I would still recommend to any readers who want a cozy romance and feel this would strike their fancy. My favorite thing was probably the representation of a neurodivergent sapphic love story. There was spice and yes it was well written.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

"Late Bloomer" by Mazey Eddings is a sweet romance about new beginnings, with one (two?) neurodivergent main characters. I appreciated the fierce love and chosen family configurations portrayed as well as the explorations of different pathways young adults can take. Loved the rural flower farm setting. Some of the story seemed a bit unrealistic but this hopeful story had enough grit and character development to make me overlook that. A fun uplifting read. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

This was so cute and a great exploration of mental health & its implications on all aspects of our lives. I was so rooting for Opal and Pepper. Mazey Eddings wrote them with such care so they really shine as individuals on the page. This had some traditional drama but you know it comes from a place of past trauma and insecurity and it's hard to imagine i would act any differently than these characters. I loved this. Sapphic - full of flowers - small town setting - family drama - and a lovely group of found family. I want more.

Really cute read. Giving this a 3.5 out of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a cute, steamy sapphic romance between two neurodivergent individuals brought together but absolutely absurd circumstances. There are aspects of both Opal and Pepper that I can identify with, and I did enjoy the idea of a "hot mess express" protagonist (aka an adult protagonist who is just trying to figure out life). However, the secondhand embarrassment I feel specifically for Opal sometimes took away from the story as a whole. She takes impulsive ADHD to a whole new level, and I question the legality and realness of their forces proximity.

HOWEVER, where this story really shines is in its spicy scenes. Opal takes on an unexpected level of assertiveness and dominance, while also needing clear communication to know what Pepper wants and/or is ok with.

This is such a fun and charming story, and I absolutely flew through it! Unlike some other reviewers, I loved the chemistry between Opal and Pepper. They are a prickly but sweet pairing, and I was cheering for them. The flower farm is a lovely setting and, as a native of western North Carolina, I love seeing this area featured so beautifully. Finally, the ending of this novel is so satisfying and provides the closure that discerning readers in this genre enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher and for an advance e-galley; all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

Late Bloomer is a sapphic romance between a self proclaimed hot mess and a hard working flower farmer trying to hang on to her home. Mazy Eddings sets the stage for a charming, steamy queer romcom with mixed results.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Opal is having a tough time, between her terrible job and her awful friends, when she suddenly wins the lottery. Thinking it’s a sign that she’s ready for a fresh start, she impulsively buys a flower farm sight unseen and decides it’s the perfect spot for her art studio. Only when she gets there, she finds Pepper, the granddaughter of the late owner, who has no clue the farm’s been sold. Pepper loves the only home she’s ever known, and is working as hard as she can to keep the Thistle and Bloom financially sound. The two make a deal: Pepper will stay on and run the farm and try to earn the money she needs to buy back the property from Opal while Opal pursues her art. Naturally this involves the two strangers sharing a home, and fighting their attraction to each other as they grow closer. But what happens when they can’t ignore those pesky feelings?

Pepper is a likable grump, and her autism experience was presented well. Relationships aren’t easy for her, but clearly her late Grandma Lou and her closest friends are an incredible found family. She and Opal have tons of chemistry together, and their steamy moments heat up the second half of the book.

This kind of romance depends on the likability of the characters, though, and I had a tough time connecting with Opal. She’s supposed to be a charming hot mess, but I spent a lot of time feeling like an outraged parent thinking “you did what now?” I’m usually in favor of the most bananas romance reasons, but it’s tough for me to buy the justifications for some of Opal’s over the top actions.

I have mixed feelings about Late Bloomer. Parts of it were a lot of fun to read, while others were personally frustrating for me. I always enjoy a steamy queer romcom, though, and Mazey Eddings writes some of the most entertaining dialogue around.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Honestly I struggled with this one. I love Mazeys other books and so when I saw Late Bloomer was coming (a sapphic romance with so much great neurodiversity representation!!) I was so excited.!! I ended up finding the characters unlikeable and unrelatable… some of how they talked and behaved felt so so young, but the subject matter and relationships felt adult, so I just wasn’t really sure where Late Bloomer fits.

Overall, it had some cute moments and I love the premise, but it just wasn’t a hit for me personally.

Thank you St Martin’s Press for the arc to read - all thoughts are mine and not impacted by receiving an arc!

I absolutely fell head over heels for the romance between Pepper and Opal!! I could feel their chemistry and I was hooked on their story. I was rooting for them the whole time & although there was a third act conflict I thought it was done really well! I’m so glad I got the chance to read this sapphic romance as it was everything I was looking for and more.

It's a great, witty book that pulls at the heartstrings. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes romcoms.

Cute and quirky. Each of the characters stood on their own with individual personalities and interests. This is low stakes, cozy vibes, and perfect for spring. I do wish their had been more done with the shoe art element, it seemed kind of forgetten by the end of the book.