*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spring (and not this fake spring that keeps teasing us here in the mountains!)

"Late Bloomer" is the perfect romcom if all you want is to feel that first blush of spring but in book form. @mazeyeddings has once again written a fabulous book, I've loved her other books and this lived up to all of my expectations.

It was extremely sweet and tender, but with a touch of chaos (Opal is a highly relatable chaos bisexual with ADHD, I wonder why I relate to her...) I laughed, I cried, and I felt Opal and Pepper's vulnerability trough the pages. This book also has amazing queer and neurodivergent representation (Opal is ADHD, Pepper is autistic).

I hope readers fall as hard for Opal and Pepper as I did when "Late Bloomer" comes out on April 16th!

This was cute! I liked the Asheville setting because I’m from North Carolina so I always love a shout out. The neurodivergent rep was good. I did have a little bit of trouble keeping the side characters straight in my head, I don’t feel like they all had their own fully fleshed out voices enough to be distinct. I don’t think this is the best romance I’ve read in a while, but it was pleasant and I’ll definitely recommend it. I enjoy Mazey Eddings’ books.

3.5

Thank you net galley and st martin’s griffin for the earc in exchange for an honest review.
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings was so cute and enjoyable.
I know when people say never judge a book by a cover, and well I definitely judged this book. The cover is absolutely stunning and made me that much more excited to read this book. Opal and Pepper are just two girls who do not necessarily have the best people in their life. Opal has some friends and exes that do not appreciate her enough and walk all over her and Pepper’s mom is definitely in the running for #1 worst mom. I really loved their tentative yet blossoming friendship. It made me giddy once we got to see them realize just how much they actually want each other in their lives.
The plot was cute. I really liked watching them each combine their passions and I honestly really liked the end. I only wish there was more. A lot of the minor drama was just from small miscommunications between them, which was okay. I know I wish we got see more resolution and not necessarily revenge but I was really hoping for the confrontation with the mom, which was just barely touched upon at the end. I am happy with how everything ended, I guess I just wanted more with it.
Overall, this book is enjoyable and cute, I liked all the characters and really loved watching them heal. I just wish there was more. I wish we got more. Also if you don’t like pop culture references then this book is not for you, I don’t mind them so they didn’t bother me personally.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy for review.

This book honestly surprised me. At first I did not care for either main character, especially when they first meet. However, as the book went on I found myself rooting for their love story and came to love both of them. I loved the representation in this book, especially the neurodiverse characters. The setting screamed spring vibes and I enjoyed the flower farm. Some aspects felt a bit rushed but overall this was very enjoyable and I would recommend to those who enjoy romance books.

This was a DNF for me, I made it to about 25% and I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t able to get into the story at all

DNF at 30%

I am withholding my review until St. Martin's Press denounces Islamaphobia and pinkwashing and identifies and enacts ways to support and protect BIPOC authors, readers, influencers, and employees.

Late Bloomer is a story about a girl, Opal, who feels lost in life, and after randomly winning the lottery, decides to change everything and buy a flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina. Here she meets the granddaughter of the previous owner, Pepper, who isn’t aware that the property has been sold, and they strike a deal to live together until Pepper can buy the farm back from Opal.
I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it mostly let me down. The cover is gorgeous, the synopsis is interesting, and I loved the idea of falling in love on a flower farm, so really this should have been right up my alley, but I could never get into the characters or the story.
I’ll start with the positives. The setting is beautiful; I really felt like I was there on that farm, and it’s clear the author did her research on various flowers and their meanings. The author’s note at the end about flower significance was a cute touch. I also thought Pepper’s grief was handled well, and her growth towards opening herself up to love again after her rough hand in life was wonderful to see. If this book had only been about Pepper and her journey I think I might have loved it. However, Opal, to me, was unlikeable. I understand being a people pleaser, I struggle with that too, but she was written in a way that was just kind of whiny and annoying. She had no spine, seemed to jump between meek and aggressive depending on the scene, and was all around a character that I didn’t care to root for. I did like Pepper, but I spent all of the romantic scenes wondering why she liked Opal, which definitely took me out of the moment a little bit. Not to mention how fast they “fell in love.” I hate that trope in fiction, where the characters have sex a few times, laugh together maybe once, have a big fight, and then fall back together crying out love confessions that make no sense at all. I sensed no deeper connection, and for a book that is primarily a romance story, that was really disappointing. I would have loved to see Opal grow more and see them start to slowly build a relationship, not just jump right into one.
Despite all of this, I’m glad I got the opportunity to read this book, and I think people who don’t mind suspending a little bit of belief would likely enjoy the story. If you enjoy instalove in a gorgeous setting, with themes of overcoming grief and living as a neurodivergent in a neurotypical world, then this book is for you!

I’ve read all of Mazey Eddings’ books and so far none of them can top A Brush With Love for me (Dan & Harper supremacy). I digress, this sapphic romance features neurodivergent/ADHD/Autistism rep, a bunchhhh of flowers and many Taylor Swift references is an excellent description of Late Bloomer. Tropes include found family, coping with grief, a windfall, oh my god they were roommates, forced proximity, and…kinda not enough plot that I was bored some of the time I was reading.

Late Bloomer had all the makings of a strong story but the main characters, Pepper and Opal, just felt a little flat and two dimensional to me. The writing was easy, funny, with lots of great quotes. Something was just missing and I’m not sure exactly what.

I’ll still read Mazey’s work because she’s a brilliant writer who is breaking the mental health in writing barrier.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Disappointing, because I loved Mazey Edding’s Brush With Love trilogy so much, but this one just didn’t vibe with me. Opal - flighty, messy Opal is a pile of some of my least favorite traits, and I found Pepper’s characterization to be all over the map. Their chemistry fell flat, and the story (especially the third-act fight and subsequent make-up) didn’t really do it for me. Next time, Mazey, next time.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mazey Eddings can do no wrong, this book is a perfect addition to her other adult romance novels.

Opal needs a fresh start, so when she wins the lottery, she impulse buys a flower farm and heads right on over to move in. She's surprised to find Pepper already living there, believing the farm became hers after her grandmother died. The two become temporary roommates as they try to figure out what happened and spark eventually fly between them.

This is a sweet, tender romance with lots of laugh out loud moments. The setting of the farm is gorgeous and I learned a bit about flowers. There's also a grumpy/sunshine thing going on that is delightful.

Highly recommend.

Gorgeous cover and a sweet charming grumpy/sunshine romance. I like the author’s writing style so this was easy to get into. Opal did seem a bit naive/ young in parts but overall I liked the chemistry between her and Pepper. 3 🌟

I would love to review this book but I am withholding my review in light of the SMP Boycott, and will wait to post until SMP takes action and the boycott ends.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When lost soul Opal Devlin wins the lottery, she impulsively decides to buy a beautiful flower farm. The only issue? Pepper Smith already lives there. It belonged to her late grandmother who didn’t write a will. The two young women strike up a deal to both live on the property and save the struggling farm in an art competition - the perfect marriage of Opal's love for art and Pepper’s passion for flowers. While things start in a way that’s anything but ideal, the two end up falling in love.

While the concept of Late Bloomer is fun and it’s a quick, easy read I found the writing lacking. Eddings’ writing isn’t bad per se but it isn’t without its cliches and lines that made me cringe. Many of the attempts at humor fell flat for me and I laughed at moments that I could tell were meant to be serious.

That being said, there were things I enjoyed. I loved the vivid setting of the Thistle and Bloom. The flower farm feels like a character in its own right. I thought Pepper acknowledging that feelings may arise when she and Opal decide to be enemies with benefits was believable and worth noting when so few fictional characters ever see this as a possibility. I also loved that Opal is established to likely be neurodivergent even though she never pursued an official diagnosis. Her neurodivergence is very different from Pepper’s autism, but no less valid, which feels true to real life and is refreshing in a world full of stories where every neurodivergent character acts the same.

Unfortunately, I would have liked Opal’s characterization to feel more organic. Opal is constantly telling us who she is instead of Eddings revealing her personality through backstory or her actions. It also tends to be the same information again and again just stated in slightly different ways. Pepper feels more like a real person because of this, leaving an uneven playing field. Pepper’s mom and Opal’s coworker felt more like cartoon villains than real threats and Opal’s sisters felt like the same person, only there to occasionally make silly comments and establish that not everyone in Opal’s life is awful.

Opal and Pepper fall for each other very quickly - so quickly that claiming they’re “enemies to lovers” feels false to me. I thought it was very, very obvious that Pepper didn’t hate Opal so Opal believing that despite all they had been through felt like it was only part of the narrative because Eddings needed it to be to tell her story, not because it made sense.

I often wondered while I was reading if Eddings’ writing wouldn’t be better suited to a young adult novel. Opal and Pepper both felt young to me, especially Opal, and I could easily see this novel being YA with a few tweaks.

Overall, I thought Late Bloomer was a promising novel that ultimately fell short and would give it 2.5 stars.

I think it was the slump because sadly this book did not hit like I wanted it too. Opal got on my nerves, and even though I loved Pepper, I just didn't feel their chemistry. Overall I liked it and will plan to read this author again, but nothing stood out to me in this book besides the stunning cover.

The cover definitely pulled me in & the first few chapters had me intrigued! I appreciated the neurodivergent & autistic representation but unfortunately the story overall fell a little short for me. For the book being as long as it was, I felt like Opal & Pepper's relationship developed too quickly which definitely caused me to be quite confused by the ending. I will say that the spice was spicing though which definitely gripped me in the middle. I will definitely be adding more books by Mazey to my Goodreads shelf!
Thanks to NetGalley & Mazey Eddings for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

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🌻 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 (𝐎𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫) 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 😭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲–𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐦-𝐜𝐨𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥) 𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!

𝕊𝕪𝕟𝕠𝕡𝕤𝕚𝕤: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐥𝐢𝐧, 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐥𝐲–𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲? 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦 (𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦), 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝) 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 (𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐧) 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

🌷 🌼 🌹 🌺 🌻

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝑀𝒶𝓏𝑒𝓎 𝐸𝒹𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒮𝓉. 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓃'𝓈 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Opal is stuck in a rut, she keeps going back to her toxic ex and her so called best friend uses her every chance she gets. That stops now, she quite literally won the lottery. She put that money to good use getting a dreamy flower farm where she plans on starting up her business. Maybe the deal was too good to be true, once she gets there she meets Pepper who claims to be the rightful owner of the property. Eventually they strike up an agreement to temporarily cohabitate but that won’t be easy as the pair keeps butting heads and argue at every turn.

An absolutely gorgeous setting, representation, extremely likable characters, and a compelling plot what’s not to love. I’m obsessed!!

There is so much representation built into the story. The main characters are obviously part of the LGBTQ+ community and so are a lot of the side characters as well. You’ve got to love that! Mental health, autism as well as dealing with the loss of a loved one is also brought up. Two young women making their way in the world after a rough patch, that’s empowering and inspiring to read about.

There’s something for everyone emotional scenes, moments to lighten the mood and also quite a lot of spice. To make it even better there’s a dual pov, an amazing friend group, the opposites attract trope and so much more. I also have to mention the cover it’s absolutely gorgeous, easily one of my new favorites.

Can’t recommend it enough, this is a must read I my opinion!

Would recommend for fans of…
🌷Well Met
🌷The Kiss Quotient
🌷Book Lovers

If you’re looking for a cute and refreshing read, perfectly suited for spring, Late Bloomer is the book for you!

This enemies-to-lovers (ish), forced proximity romance follows Opal, a young woman who ends up buying a flailing flower farm owned by the less-than-sunny Pepper, and the two must navigate cohabitation amidst their growing feelings.

The only word that comes to mind when I think of this book is cute! It’s sweet and uplifting, even when dealing with heavier topics such as grief and difficult parental relationships. Pepper and Opal manage to remain hopeful, and persevere, even when things are challenging. Everything about this novel will brighten your day.

I normally don’t include my thoughts on Author’s Notes and extra materials, but I highly recommend reading them with this one. Mazey Eddings provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the book’s title was chosen, as well as the symbolism behind the flowers featured in the book. These aspects really added to the reading experience and gave me a greater appreciation for the story.

My only qualm with this one was how young the characters felt. Late Bloomer is very, very clearly an adult romance, but many times it felt like characters from a YA romance had been put into an adult one. It’s a minor thing, but it made it difficult for me to fully buy into the story.

Late Bloomer is out April 16. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Opal is feeling down and directionless in her life, until a lucky lottery win opens up new possibilities.

Seeing an online listing for a flower farmm she immediately latches on to the idea of buying it as an artistic haven. Bonus that it gets her away from people suddenly coming out of the woodwork with guilt trips and demands for help, toxic ex Miles and fake friend Laney worst among them.

The way she buys the farm - from a Facebook marketplace listing, sight unseen (other than those pictures), no inspection, trading the check for a deed from seller Trish in a coffee shop…it (rightly) gave me The Anxiety.

When Opal arrives there she finds the struggling Thistle and Bloom already occupied by an outraged and confused Pepper. She’d had been running the place with Grandma Lou before her passing, and searching for the will that would have officially passed it on to her.

After some negotiations they end up reluctant roommates. Opal agrees to give Pepper the opportunity to buy the place back over time, but admits she needs a place to stay and work currently.

Things progress from there to roomies with benefits, getting steamy and then heading towards sweet.

When I started I thought I couldn’t possibly dislike characters more than I did Mike and Laney. Then came Trish. A warning that, especially if you are sensitive to horrible mother storylines, that woman will make you want to do a crime. Putting it mildly, I disliked her a distracting amount.
On the flip side, Pepper had amazing friends and Opal had amazing sisters and I enjoyed the scenes *they* were in immensely.

I also enjoyed the brainstorming when planning their art installation. Their world might have been cheated out of a masterpiece celebrating Jeff Goldblum, but the description of what they did create sounded beautiful.

In addition to the fun of a budding relationship (<- see what I did there?) the exploration of labels for everything from mental health to sexuality adds to the deepness to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC!

I enjoyed this one quite a bit! I binged it in one day and it held my attention the whole time. Opal and Pepper were really cute together. Plus a flower farm as a setting is kind of precious. We have opposites attract, forced proximity, and multiple POV. The author touches on autism representation which I thought was very well done. I loved how Opal and Pepper were there for each other even before they truly admitted their feelings to each other. They navigated the one another’s past coming out of the woodworks with ease. I also really enjoyed the narrator as they really held my attention! Also the cover is stunning.