I made a goal this year to clear out my NetGalley backlog, and I am kicking myself now. This one shouldn't have sat on my shelf for so long.

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Standalone

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book on Kindle. ARC courtesy of NetGalley

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: LGBTQIA+ Romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Opposites attract, autism representation, slow burn, flowers as a love language.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Opal wins the lottery. And like so many things in her life, she uses that money on a whim to buy a flower farm, where she believes she will live out her days making art. But when she gets there she meets Pepper, the rightful owner of the farm. The two decide to share space and work toward helping to save the struggling farm.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: This book left me absolutely raw.

Late Bloomer was my first Mazey Eddings book - and I am impressed. Opal and Pepper are a lesson in creating excellent, relatable and layered characters. Opal is this heavily emotional whirlwind of color and energy. Pepper is reserved, scared, and deeply settled into her routine and her grief. The dual POV shows they're both extremely self-aware, and their internal doubts were relatable and heartbreaking at the same time.

This is one of those books you literally can't wait for the two main characters to find happiness. I wanted so badly for them both to have peace. The entire book was on this beautiful backdrop of flowers, which made it even more romantic.

I have a few other Mazey Eddings books on my shelf that I can't wait to dig into now.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 3/5 🌶🌶🌶

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Rating: 5 Stars
Publication Date: April 16, 2024
HEA: Yes

Late Bloomer follows Opal after she makes an impulse decision to use her recent lottery winnings to buy a flower farm in Asheville, NC. Upon arriving, she finds out that she may be getting more than she bargained for with its current resident, Pepper.

This book made me giggle and kick my feet so many times, and also the spice was 🫠🫠. I absolutely loved the dynamic between Pepper and Opal and I related to bits of both of them. I loved how carefree Opal seemed in contrast to Pepper. Opal had peak chaotic bisexual energy (I know because she is me in many ways). Pepper squeezed at my heartstrings though. I’ve now read two books this year with characters who don’t seem to believe they have worth outside of what others find in them and that just makes me wanna give them a big hug.

I originally picked this book up because 1)it’s sapphic and looked hella cute, and 2) my mom owns a flower farm. I absolutely loved reading scenes like when they go to pick flowers and having moments like “oh I’ve also been fussed at for cutting too low and damaging the regrowth for the season.” I can honestly say a lot of this book is like working on a real live flower farm and it just felt like home.

If you need any other reasons to pick up this book, this book is quite Taylor Swift coded and in the authors note at the end she mentioned it had a working title of Lavender Haze as a nod not only to Taylor but to the queer and sapphic history around the term. I absolutely loved this tidbit of information at the end because it truly made a lot of sense to me.

Anyway, it’s a cute and spicy read that fully transports you into small town North Carolina, into the fields of a flower farm, watching two unlikely ladies fall in love.

Soft DNF. I wasn't loving either character very much and didn't find the conflict particularly interesting.

I loved this book! I think my favorite part of this was all of the meanings behind the different flowers mentioned!

Opal's start in this book is a little cringe and anxiety driven, and the whole lottery plotline is a little silly - but if you just take those things at face value and get into the relationship side of this book I enjoyed it! Sapphic romances have really been a struggle for me recently - I haven't found that I understand why the MCs are truly into each other beyond just a sexual attraction. But I thought the development of Opal and Pepper's relationship more realistic. Both MC's go on a journey of learning to trust each other because of past partner/family dynamics - and to me that felt very authentic. I've I think only read one other (non queer) book by this author but I find that Mazey is really good at writing complex well-rounded characters that have real, relatable struggles to overcome on their journeys to love.

-neurodivergent rep
-forced proximity
-sexual awakening
-grumpy/sunshine
-complex parental dynamics

3.75/4 stars

The cover is so gorgeous and the idea was so fun and unique. I wish I could have felt a stronger connection between our love interests. I liked them both separate, but together it was tough to see. It was a nice and easy read though and I’d likely try another book by this author.

Rating: 3.5/5

Late Bloomer was my first book by Mazey Eddings and it’s probably one of my favorite queer romances next to The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. Opal Devlin needs to get away from her life or she will keep repeating the same bad patterns over and over again. Pepper, who is as spicy as her name suggests, is struggling to keep her flower farm from going under. Grumpy/Sunshine is one of my favorite romance tropes and Late Bloomer utilizes it perfectly while also respectfully handling mental health issues, neurodivergence, and family struggles. I loved reading about Opal and Pepper as they grew not only on their own but together as a sweet and spicy couple. I loved this book, it was so sweet, I loved the setting of the flower farm, and for lack of better words I just really loved this love story.

I adored this sweet story and was so invested in Pepper and Opal's story. Flower farm, chaotic/stoic, neurodivergent characters, art, creativity, sunshine, learning to trust that someone can love you. My only complaint is that I wanted so much more of the side characters. Overall a wonderful book.

A great opposites attract novel

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this review copy and the opportunity !

It's the first week in January but I'm saying right now, this is going to be one of my top reads of the year, maybe even #1. I don't think I have ever felt so seen in a book before. I related so much to Opal, but there were also parts of me in Pepper as well. I love both of them so much. I just want to give them both a huge hug.

This story was sweet, spicy, funny, challenging, hopeful, heartbreaking. I went through so many emotions while reading this book.

I really don't feel like I can do this book justice, but I loved it so much and it's going to stay with me for a long time.

I listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by Ellie Gossage. She is a new narrator to me and I absolutely loved her narration. She did a great job of giving each character a distinct voice and bringing them to life in her performance. I am looking forward to listening to more books that she has narrated for sure!

I had been dying to read one of Mazey's books because I only ever hear positive things about her writing. Ideally, I would have given this one a 3.5 - I enjoyed it but it felt like something was missing, maybe a bit more of an emotional connection between the main characters was the thing missing for me. They weren't lacking in physical connection at all, but I think I would have liked to see more serious conversations happening between the two to develop the characters both individually and as a couple.

I'll definitely read another one of Mazey's books to try out her writing again!

I thought this was a sweet and emotional read, but I wish I would have felt more connected with the characters! Mazey always does a great job spicing up her books but I was hoping for some more solid dialogue and witty banter between our two leads, and I wanted to see their connection in other ways besides physical. I loved the setting and cottage core vibes, and the neurodiverse rep was great too!

This romance book is a beautifully written tale that tugs at the heartstrings. The chemistry between the main characters is undeniable, and their journey together is both touching and memorable. The story offers a perfect balance of emotion and tension, with moments that will make you smile and others that will leave you reflecting long after you've finished. A lovely read for anyone who enjoys a heartwarming love story.

I really didn't like the character at first, she was way too people pleasing and there just didn't seem to be a reason for it. I just found it really frustrating and then she was so dumb buying a whole ass farm from a women you've never met from a Facebook marketplace ad. The rest of the book was a bit better. I liked Pepper and Opals relationship and the autism representation. Overall, I liked it well enough but Opal was too annoying and frustrating at the beginning for me to really enjoy it.

Absolutely loved Late Bloomer. It's like super cute sapphic Hallmark movie. Definitely a great read for whenever you need a tooth-rotting adversaries to lovers pick me up.

I need to find a way to inject this entire book into my veins - it was so good! The characters, the unfolding of their love story, their acceptance of one another. I'm going to need more of Opal and Pepper or at least another re-read before I read something else by Mazey Eddings because this was amazing!

I really enjoyed this book. It took a while for me to connect with the story because the lottery plot wasn't of much interest to me, but once the characters really opened up to each other and we got more backstory, I really enjoyed this read! Was definitely spicier than I had anticipated based on Mazey Eddings previous books, and it was well written. I look forward to reading more from her!

Overall, Late Bloomer is a beautifully written, uplifting story about embracing life's imperfections and finding love and purpose in unexpected places. Mazey Eddings once again proves her talent for writing stories that resonate long after the last page is turned.

This is a fun sapphic romance with a deep emotional core. Mazey Eddings does it again.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.