I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet sapphic romance! While it handled grief, it was ultimately low-stakes and tension, definitely a cozy choice. Opal and Pepper were wonderful, the austism and ADHD rep was great to see, and I liked the opposites attract, slow burn and grumpy/sunshine aspects. Devoured it in one evening.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, all opinions are my own!

Took me a minute to finish this one. Sidetracked! But there are reasons why.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to Netgalley + St. Martin’s Press for this cute sapphic arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one was cute, short, sapphic and filled with romance. I really love Opal’s character, she reminds me of myself in a certain ways. Definitely gives off Libra vibes. <3

Themes: Rural Area, sapphic, girlhood, love

As I found this one cute and short read, I myself did not care much for the quirky typical cheesy lines. I do appreciate a good book to clean my palate after reading many horror thrillers. This one would be a perfect pick.

Late Bloomer was a really solid and fun sapphic romance book. While still enjoyable overall, I found that the story and characters missed the mark in a few areas for me.

It’s dual POVs of the main characters, Opal, a sunshine shoe painting artist and Pepper, a grumpy flower farmer.

There were some great tropes as well like, grumpy-sunshine, opposites attract, forced proximity and a small town romance.

The first half of the story was really entertaining. I absolutely loved Opal and her sisters. The neurodivergent representation was written beautifully. The flower farm setting was also really interesting.

However, the second half of the story was very slow paced. Plot-wise nothing really happens until the very end. Opal’s storyline and growth felt very underdeveloped as well.

The romance between Opal and Pepper was cute but they definitely lacked in the communication department. Their shift from strangers to lovers felt rushed and there wasn’t as much emotional connection between them as I would have liked. The spice was amazing though and they definitely had some steamy and intense chemistry.

The ending was sweet but pretty rushed. There were also a few subplots that felt unfinished.

Overall, I do have mix feelings but it was still just a quick and lighthearted read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Genre: Romance, Sapphic
Tropes: forced proximity, sexual awakening, grumpy/sunshine

“Hope lightens you and lifts you and expands more room in your heart than you know what to do with. And sharing that hope with someone that will care for it and tend to it like it deserves only lets it grow more and more.”

When Mazey Eddings writes a book, you can absolutely expect to have a novel full of spicy scenes along with neurodivergent representation that is unmatched. Late Bloomer is absolutely no exception to this rule. I started and finished this book within 24 hours because I just couldn’t enough of the tension and banter between our two main characters Opal and Pepper.

"Sometimes I hate myself. I hate my meekness and my boldness. I hate my fear and my audacity to try. Sometimes the hate digs its roots in so deep, it feels like it is me. I hate that hate. I have endless grace for everyone in the world, but none for myself. Why am I not allowed to make mistakes? Why does my compassion stretch to strangers but stop at my own front door?"

The way that Mazey carefully and thoughtfully addresses neurodivergent characters while also exploring grief, trauma and identity is done so well that there were times when I felt like she was writing about me. Opal is quirky and funny and full of all the thoughts, all the time. Pepper is broody and determined and guarded while also trying to navigate a world full of nonverbal social cues that don’t always compute. I loved their chemistry as well as their own unique traits so much.

My favorite part of this book though? The author’s notes regarding the title of the novel as well as the meanings of each flower that is mentioned in the book. While this is a great read, these little tidbits at the end of the novel really make this one a homerun.

Late Bloomer starts with Opal who is frankly having a bad time. She’s lacking direction and doesn’t have a lot going on aside from her part-time job. While there, she ends up getting a lottery ticket from her coworker. That results in her winning $500,000 and as excited as she is, she has no idea what to do.

Of course, she soon sees a listing on Facebook and ends up becoming the proud owner of Thistle & Bloom, a flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina. Opal packs everything up and goes to the farm to find out Pepper is already living there. It’s clear from the jump that Pepper wants nothing to do with Opal.

Determined to pay Opal out, Pepper agrees to let her stay but if she can pay back how much Opal bought the farm for. Of course, the two end up forming a tentative friendship that ends up becoming more. However, this book isn’t all about the cute sapphic romance and tending to the gorgeous flower farm.

Opal is dealing with the aftermath of having all that lottery money and following her passion for designing shoes. Pepper is also grappling with the loss of her grandmother who owned Thistle & Bloom along with coming to terms with her sexuality and what she wants from Opal. These two are also neurodivergent which does play a role in some of the conflict, but it makes sense.

Even though Late Bloomer is my first read from Mazey Eddings, I feel like I’ve already sat down and picked her brain. Maybe it’s the way she tells stories or just her writing, but it makes me want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with her. Plus she knows how to write a sex scene and that’s something that can be sorely lacking in sapphic stories.
Late Bloomer is just the ultimate spring book and by the end, you’ll be wanting to visit a flower farm and fall in love. What more can you ask for? Overall, this definitely won’t be my last book from Mazey Eddings.

Wow I didn’t expect to love this book as much as so did! Late Bloomer follows Opal a people pleasing twenty something stuck in a dead end job. In a stroke of luck as she wins the lottery and buys a flower farm to follow her artistic dreams. When she gets there she realizes the flower farm already has a rightful owner, Pepper. Trying to figure out their way out of this mess they decide to enter a competition in hopes that the prize money can allow Pepper to gain ownership of the farm.

Wow I loved Pepper and Opal so much! When we meeting Pepper she’s grieving the loss of her grandma and dealing with a lifetime of emotional manipulation from her mother. Opal is a people pleaser who’s learning to stand up for herself. I loved seeing Pepper and Opal work through their issues and past hurts and learn to trust each other. The discussions of grief and addiction were so real and raw, it was such an emotional expediting reading. Mazey Eddings does a fantastic job of exploring these characters in this sexy and emotional novel. I couldn’t love this book more!

Opal is lost in life. She’s an artist who dreams of designing shoes for a living, but instead is working at an ice cream parlor to make ends meet. When she wins big on a scratch off, she buys a flower farm sight unseen. However, when she arrives at her new home she finds it already inhabited by Piper, who is her opposite in every way. They agree to cohabitate temporarily while figuring out a long term solution. Along the way they realize there’s something there between them and this may be the best thing to ever happen to either.

This was adorable!! I couldn’t help but root for Opal and Piper. Both had so much personality and quirkiness and their chemistry was really there. This was my first Mazey Eddings book and it definitely won’t be my last.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

What a unique love story! I really enjoyed spending time on the farm with Opal and Pepper. As much work as they do there, Thistle and Bloom sounds like an idyllic place to live, surrounded by nature and inspired by beauty. I could fully understand Opal's dream to make the place her home and studio space even as I cringed with her lack of due diligence in researching the property, responsibilities of ownership, or even the person she met for the sale! Thank goodness Pepper, the last remaining heart of the beautiful farm, was inconveniently stuck there when Opal arrived! As implausible as the setup might be, the sheer recklessness of Opal's early decisions made it easy to accept her willingness to share the farmhouse and help Pepper, even as Pepper's animosity and resentment towards her burned blindingly bright.

The characters are just fantastic, a great mix of personalities. My heart wept for Pepper's grief, her monstrously narcissistic mother, and the general distrust she feels after the difficulties she's endured. I loved Opal's heart and generosity and adored her sisters and the proud way that they love and support each other. And the emotions on the page are so palpable and raw, especially as the neurodiverse characters discover the depths of gratitude, love, and passion they feel for each other. It left me feeling ragged in bits but so happy by the epilogue. Highly recommend. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While I am grateful for the advanced review copy and did thoroughly enjoy the book, I’m withholding my review from social media as part of the SMP boycott against racism and islamophobia.

I LOVED this book! Opal and Pepper are fantastic main characters, and their grumpy/sunshine personalities worked so well together. I also really loved Pepper’s exploration of grief and thought that was handled really well. The plot itself is rather unique and the setting of the flower farm was perfect for spring.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC! All thoughts are my own.

TW: death of a family member, grief, uninvolved parent, toxic friendships

Rating: 4.5/5

Thank you Mazey Eddings and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book via NetGalley!

Say hi to Opal. She's a people-pleaser who has some really shitty friends I'd like to kick to the curb. To say I was rooting for her when she won the lottery would be an understatement. And oh-ho-ho, when she won, guess who showed their not-so-pretty little faces? 😒 But what a whirlwind that set-up was. Winning the lottery. BUYING A FLOWER FARM. I'm not going to lie, I was a tad nervous bc Opal, our pure-hearted soul, always gave people the benefit of the doubt so I felt like I needed to be alert on her behalf. But I *was* very excited for her to pursue her passion and do what *she* wanted instead of conceding to others. And I loved seeing Opal grow. People-pleasing tends to come with a heavy dose of insecurity and those moments where Opal worried about being liked by Pepper and Pepper's friends? So relatable! Then that moment of vindication when Opal put her former friends in their place? 👏👏👏 Byyyye, see ya never.

And Pepper? She's the grump to Opal's sunshine. She thrives in routine and has a deep-seated need for control. I loved that by dropping into Pepper's life, Opal helped her relax enough to breathe and, ultimately, move forward within her grief. And damn, some people are the worst. While Pepper had lovely people around her, it made me livid knowing the *one person* she should have been able to rely on not only flaked, but took advantage of her. JFC. 😤 But Pepper's journey showed us the significance of time. Or the insignificance of it, depending on your perspective. There is no single timeline that should stop anyone from pursuing anything. The right time will never pass so long as you have the will and support. At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with being a late bloomer. 😉

CN: open-door romance, grief, loss of a family member, complicated relationships with alcohol, parental neglect/abandonment, toxic friends

I ended up DNFing this book at around 35%. I think this one proves that I'm not the target audience for this author. I found every single character to be annoying, but especially our two protagonists. I love the representation, and I know this book will speak deeply to some people, but it's not for me. Two stars bc the cover is gorgeous and sapphic Neurodivergence gets at least two stars.

Late Bloomer is my favorite read of 2024! Mazey Eddings has outdone herself with this one. I loved the slow burn romance and was rooting for this couple to bloom the entire way. The writing and artistry was this author’s best yet. You won’t regret picking this sweet, sapphic ring that is perfect for Springtime.

Spring is in the air and being at a flower farm sounds like a perfect setting for a sapphic romance. Opal wins the lottery and is at crossroads with her life. She decides to buy a flower farm sight unseen where she learns Pepper lives there and it was a farm started by her grandmother. They decided to help each other out and live together on the farm. I loved seeing their friendship/romance develop. There's a lot of funny moments and I love how Eddings writes real characters and how their mental health is important in the story. The story is told in dual POV and I wished the there was 2 narrators instead of 1.

The author's note was such a treat. I loved the ideas of the different titles she came up with.

Thank you @smpromance @macmillan.audio @netgalley for a copy of this.

Anything Mazey writes I will read. I love that she will always represent neurodiversity with respect and dignity. Her characters are not just their diversity but full humans that are multifaceted people. I will encourage all my people to read her books

3.5

Late Bloomer follows Opal after she wins the lottery and purchases a flower farm to serve as a fresh start for her and her art skills. The flower farm isn't empty however and is being lived and worked on by Pepper who is very shocked at the new development of the change in ownership. Pepper and Opal but heads quite often at the beginning of this story but they eventually manage to work out a new normal for things moving forward.

Opal and Pepper are both in their mid-20s (around 24/26) and there is a lot of immaturity that they each showcase in this story. To a certain extent, this is expected, they're each fairly young and finding their way with their future but the complete lack of communication skills was certainly frustrating. Another piece that was kinda frustrating was the time jumping that occurred. This ties into the communication issues the girls had but there would be an argument and then a kind of throwaway line denoting that a week has gone by and they haven't talked. Some things I enjoyed were most of the side characters, even though we see them fairly minimally. Additionally, the setting was gorgeous. I loved the descriptions of the flower farm and the flowers themselves.

Ultimately, I think this book was good, just probably not for me! I am not neurodivergent and do not see myself in either Opal or Pepper but they might resonate a lot more with others. As someone who is around their age, their individual attitudes towards their future were just extremely annoying and led me to not connecting with them. I enjoyed a lot of other aspects of this story however and am definitely interested in other Mazey Eddings books!

Opal, a chronic people pleaser and down on her luck, didn’t think winning the lottery would ruin her life, but it sort of did. Quitting her thankless job, she’s bombarded by people who have treated her horribly in the past but are now desperate for a handout. And Opal can’t stop saying yes.

In an attempt to get away from all the people, Opal decides to invest her money in a failing flower farm in North Carolina to move away from the hubbub and get started on her painting business. However, her plans for getting away from people fails when an angry Pepper Smith is waiting for her at her new farm. Pepper claims that she’s the real owner and isn’t going anywhere. Striking up a temporary agreement to co-habitate the farm until they figure out the rightful owner, neither of them expects that they might just find the sanctuary they were looking for—not in the farm but in each other.

Come for the sapphic opposites-attract romance, stay for the “getting called out as a chronic people pleaser” vibes.

Opal is a people pleaser if there ever was one. People use her because they know they can get away with it and Opal always feels incredibly guilty when she tries to take a stand or say no (been there). Anyone who’s ever been run over in the name of “being a good friend and helping out” is sure to know exactly how Opal feels 99% of the day. While I would have loved for a bit more here in terms of character development (Opal stays pretty much the same throughout the story albeit a slight bit better at confrontation), I also liked that this book felt a bit like a sitcom with characters just—staying the way they are while dealing with day-to-day life. Pepper, on the other hand, is dealing with grieving for her aunt and doesn’t handle change or strangers that well. In the beginning, Opal and Pepper definitely get off to a bad start and the sunshine/grumpy vibes truly are immaculate. But just like a flower, their romance blossoms in the end. Fans of slow burn will devour this for sure.

Are there high stakes? No. In all honesty, this is a fluffy, cute sapphic romance with minimal angst and most of the dramatic action happening in the background. Was there more potential for the characters and growth? Sure, but I enjoyed this story for what it was, which is really all you can ask for in a fun, short romance. The whole figuring out who will actually get to stay on the farm is wrapped up nicely in the end and makes for a happily ever after.

If you’re looking for a new soft and sapphic comfort read that’s light on the angst, then Late Bloomer is sure to brighten up your shelves.

There were moments of this story that were sweet, but the personalities of the main characters gave me whiplash - I can't really say definitively which traits they each had that were consistent throughout the book to some extent, they oscillated so drastically and suddenly.

Late Bloomers by Mazey Eddings starts with a depressing picture of our MC Opal. She is very self-destructive and needy, and I'll admit my first reaction was anger. I was thinking how could she allow herself to be disrespected repeatedly? I wanted to scream at her and tell her to value herself more. I kept reading because I was hoping to see some real growth in her character. I thought I couldn't relate to her very well. Then it hit me. I was angry because maybe I could relate to her a little too much. Her self-loathing and naivete frustrated me. Once we are introduced to Pepper things get interesting. I really enjoyed their interactions. There is witty banter, good chemistry, and despite their differences, great compatibility. We find out that both women are neurodivergent, and they complement each other so well, offering each other understanding and stability. That is once they learn to communicate.
Mazey Eddings is so good at pulling us into the lives of these two women who see the world differently. The setting is beautiful, and the character development is important. The author brings a range of emotions. I was feeling it throughout. The writing style was easy to read and follow and kept me engaged. I never felt bored and was happy with the ending.
The epilogue and author notes were a nice bonus.
We have a diverse queer rep, neurodiverse mains dealing with past trauma, mental illness rep, fair-weather friends, a narcissist con-woman mother to stir the mix, pop culture references, and a style of speaking that may not age well but that I found helped me to connect to the characters. Some more reading challenge categories include grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, only one bed, found family, adoption, no strings (for a minute), farm life (flowers), consent is sexy, competency is sexy, and no third-act breakup. It was a great story with a lot of heart. I recommend.

Late Bloomer is a sapphic love story set on a flower farm in North Carolina. It’s about a blooming romance (pun and reference to the title, very much intended) between Pepper and Opal, totally opposites in many ways, as much as it’s also about Pepper and Opal coming to learn that they are each worthy of love.

This was incredibly funny but also very sweet. The imagery and metaphors were engaging. It’s gay. It’s neurodiverse. It’s magic.

I had a difficult time suspending belief of how Opal bought the farm at the start of this book BUT in getting to know her character, her actions were actually very much on brand for her. So I’d say if you have that initial reaction, a couple chapters in, keep going because it totally works. One of my favorite reads of the year so far!

Thanks very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.