*Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest review*

This book feels like how I imagine hugging Mazey Eddings would be like - Soft, warm, and delightful. The narrator did SO well that I honestly thought that there were 2 females narrating. A flower farm in North Carolina is such a fun setting, and I almost wished that we had more book to explore the flower fields and area more. There's a decent amount of steam, though I do feel like I could've done with more. Like how often do you get a natural opportunity to get it on in a flower field? Regardless, this book is full of quotes that made my heart ache and feel so wholly seen as a person. Felt like Opal wasn't the only one who won the lottery.

I loved how this book exists in the same Mazeyverse and I really hope that this gets picked up as a series because I'd love to see Olivia and Ophelia's stories as well.

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings is perfect for fans of opposites attract, forced proximity and grumpy-sunshine. Everytime I pick up a book by Mazey I’m instantly happy and rooting for the characters she’s written to find all the happiness in the world that they deserve – and Opal and Pepper deserve ALL the happiness and love. Opal is living at home with her parents and struggling with what’s next in her life when luck should strike and she wins the lottery. And what does she do with those winnings, but of course by a flower farm that our dear Pepper lives on. Opal and Pepper both have struggled with “fitting in” and finding where they truly belong and that they are deserving of love and just being worthy. Seeing these two bloom (see what I did there) into their relationship and fumbling through living together and finally realizing they are enough and of just being who they are – it was just perfect (4.5 stars!).

Definitely recommend you pick this one up immediately, and I’d pretty much read anything Mazey Eddings writes at this point because she always knocks them out of the park.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Mazey Eddings and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

This is a fun sapphic romance. I really appreciated how complex and developed the two main characters are, and I adore a multiple perspective romance. I also loved the found family.

You have to suspend disbelief in the set-up to this sweet, opposites attract romance. When Opal wins the lottery, her impulsive nature leads her to spend most of her winnings on a flower farm she buys sight unseen on Facebook Marketplace. Somehow this is not a scam but the sale comes as a surprise to the farm’s caretaker and long-term resident, Pepper. Any guesses what happens when Opal shows up and becomes Pepper’s new roommate? There’s also a floral sculpture competition, some charming side characters, and an evil mother and toxic ex thrown in for good measure.

Overall, I think I ended up liking the characters, especially Pepper and her friends, a whole lot more than the story. There isn’t a whole lot of conflict or angst in the relationship itself and all external problems seemed to quickly appear before being easily resolved. So this is perfect when you just need something charming and comforting to read.

I was a little worried when I saw that the audiobook had a single narrator even though the chapters alternate between Opal and Pepper’s POVs. This was ultimately handled well by the narrator, who was able to give both characters a distinct voice, but I think this would have been better with two different actors.

I’d give the story 3.5 stars and the audiobook 4 stars.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked the neurodivergent rep in this and it was nice to see characters in an adult novel navigating sex for the first time. Overall, this was a fun time and I loved the North Carolinian/ flower shop setting, but I found the romance pacing a little strange. It felt really slow and way too fast all at once so it threw me off a bit. I might be checking out more from Mazey Eddings though because I found the characters so endearing!

Hell Yes.

I got exactly what I wanted and needed. This was so lovely. You did have to dispend a little bit of belief because as much as I want to believe that this girl was just going to buy property off of facebook marketplace... with zero lawyers involved... yikes... lol. Once you get past it, the rest of it is just lovely. It had perfect amounts of neurodivergence, flower puns, and close friend group that made this the perfect read.

Seriously a great time. The audiobook was a great way to recieve the book, and I'm going to be digging into Mazey Eddings backlist for sure.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Negalley and Macmillian Audio for an early copy.

Opal has won the lottery, literally. She quits the job she hates and hastily purchases a flower farm, hoping to turn it into a place where she can focus on her painting full-time. Upon arriving at the farm, she meets Pepper, who has no idea the farm where she works has been sold. The two must learn to work (and live) together to both achieve their dreams.

Unfortunately, I stopped reading this one at 25% and decided to DNF it. I could not connect with any of the characters or the writing style. The premise sounded interesting, but something kept me from fully investing in Opal and Pepper's story. I know this one will find its audience, and I would be interested in trying another book from this author in the future.

Thank you to author Mazey Eddings, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of Late Bloomer in exchange for my review.

This was a delightful book. Opal and Pepper were great characters. I loved how real they were, and the fact that the author showed their neurodiversity and autism is all its glory.
Opal wins the lottery and decided to buy a flower farm with her winnings. Unbeknownst to her, the farm already have somebody living there. Pepper is none too pleased when Opal shows up.
Their decision to cohabitate leads to a lot of crazy happenings. Besides Opal and Pepper, I was particularly fond of Peppers friend Diksha. This book made me laugh and cheer, and it also made me want to strangle a few of the characters.
It had a little bit of spice, nothing bad or over the top. This book is well worth a read.

The sapphic springtime novel you didn’t know you needed!

Opal is down on her luck and unexpectedly wins some money playing the lottery. With her winnings she buys a cottage core cabin on a flower farm to work on her art (the DREAM), but when she pulls up with all her belongings, a woman (Pepper) is already living there and doesn’t know anything about the sale. Opal is bi and Pepper is a lesbian - if they stay in the same cabin and work to figure out a solution no romance will happen, right? 🤗

This book has:
🌸 Bi representation
🌸 Cottage core vibes
🌸 Neurodivergence
🌸 Grumpy/sunshine
🌸 Forced proximity
🌸 One bed
🌸 Lots of open door spice

Make sure to grab this one when it comes out 4/16! @mazeyeddings I loved the afterword and the language of flowers section, too. 😊

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I loved Opal and Pepper, the flower farm, how much they both developed throughout the book and the ending 🥹🥹🥹🥹


Huge thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio & St Martin's Press for an advance

I love mazey’s books so so much!! They’re always full of humor, passion, sexiness, emotion and so much more. Late Bloomer was no exception!

I loved both main characters equally and could relate to both of them in different ways. Pepper was standoffish, brash and guarded while Opal was open, cheery and excitable. Classic grumpy/sunshine trope! I especially loved Opal’s growth throughout this book. She seemed like a doormat at the start of the story and after cutting off the negative energy in her life and spending time at Thistle and Bloom with Pepper and friends she really started to ~bloom~ 😉. Basically, she got a backbone and found her voice and really discovered her confidence with Pepper’s support.

I felt so connected to the relationship Pepper had with her late grandmother. The sweet flashbacks where she was remembering special moments with her grandma were some of my favorite parts! I appreciated Pepper’s healing as well through her constant grief.

Overall totally adored this story, and let’s give a moment to that COVER!!

My review will be withheld until St. Martin's Press appropriately addresses the 3 simple demands of the boycott. When the demands are met, I will update with my full review.

After bingeing a whole bunch of dark and dramatic fantasy (which I loved, don't get me wrong!), this was the EXACT book I was looking for. Low-stakes, low-conflict, but high-heat and all around warm and fuzzy, Late Bloomer swept me off my feet!

Told in the dual first person POVs of neurodivergent artist Opal and autistic flower farmer Pepper, Late Bloomer not only scratches that burning itch I have for neurodivergent AND sapphic stories, but does it so charmingly. This is the kind of rep I've been looking for: two neurodivergent people falling for each other and supporting each other and avoiding every single horrible cliche that's out there. Like, I want to shove this book at everyone and not only say, "this is how you write an ND love story," but also, "this is how you write a love story. Period."

I have said time and time again that I don't love grumpy/sunshine, but something about the way Eddings does it just feels right. Opal is believably quirky, and Pepper is rightfully pessimistic (hey, girlfriend DID just wake up one morning and find that her farm's been sold), and I loved spending time inside their heads. I found the romance to be not only believable in its progression, but sexy and fun. The spice is to die for! And I loved how very little miscommunication there was. Any miscommunication that pops up is dealt with within the chapter, basically, and the angst resolves so quickly.

If you wanna experience the cottagecore sapphic dream, you HAVE to read Late Bloomer! I'll be eagerly awaiting Eddings' next title.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Mazey Eddings for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

4.5 ⭐️

This was my first Mazey Eddings book, and I can easily say it did not disappoint. I adored the representation in this book with the main characters being nerodivergent and autistic. I specifically felt such a connection to Opal and I want to read another story with her in it so badly.

The scenery of where this book took place felt so comfy, and is perfect for spring. Seeing Opal and Pepper grow together and build a connection was beautiful, and I will not be getting over how adorable they are together for a long while. Don't be surprised when you see me reading another Mazey Eddings book in the near future <3

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Late Bloomer is such a sweet sapphic romance novel between Opal and Pepper. I loved reading about the character’s growth individually and reading how they grew together as well. There were so many funny moments throughout the novel, but also some moments that really made me reflect on my upbringing and childhood. I am one of three girls so I love that Opal has two sisters :) Overall, a wonderful book that kept me interested from the start!

Absolutely no one does chaotic main characters like Mazey Eddings. Somehow she manages to make her main characters endearing, loveable, hilarious, and impossible not to root for while also leaving them impulsive, chaos demons. It's a true gift that she managed to keep me rooting for Opal even as she made so many terrible, impulsive decisions. Eddings must be a powerful, floral witch.
I truly loved this book and am so glad Eddings gave the sapphics a story of our own!

I dont know how she does it, but EVERY Mazey Eddings book I read just gets better and better. I cannot even express how ADORABLE I found this book. I loved it so much.

I think one of many things I like about Mazey's books is not only the representation shown in every book but they fact that her characters are SO human that you can easily see yourself in the book. Nothing feels out of touch about the romance book and that is a change for the better in my opinion. I wanted to put both Opal and Pepper in my pocket and protect them forever.

While definitely still spicy, it was so precious I couldn't even stand it. I am a SUCKER for found family too. Gracious I loved every bit of it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This is the first novel I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it. I loved the spice and the neurodivergent characters. I will definitely check out Eddings backlist and recommend her books to others.

After Opal wins the lottery, she packs up her bags and buys a flower farm, site unseen. The problem? The woman she bought it from, her daughter still lives there…

My Thoughts:
My favorite thing about Mazey’s books is how she writes neurodivergent representation so, so well. She writes these amazing characters that I just want to hug.

This one wasn’t my favorite of hers though. A lot of things just didn’t add up to me - for example she won some lottery money, not a lot, and ALL her acquaintances come out of the woodwork to use her for such an amount, the My Chemical Romance references when they’re 24 and would have been 5 when MCR was popular, how much of a doormat Opal was. BUT it was a cute light read, and had me chuckling several times. If you like flower farms and want a light read, it’s great for that.

What You’ll Find In This Book:
🌸 Sapphic Romance
🌸 Flower farm
🌸 Opposites Attract
🌸 Only One Bed
🌸 Forced Proximity
🌸 Neurodivergent Rep

3.5 Stars // I love Mazey Eddings. I think she's so talented and I'm always pulled into her stories. Late Bloomer was no exception. There was SO much to love about this story. Queer/bisexual rep, mental health rep, autism & neurodivergent rep, grump x sunshine main characters, great humor and banter, etc. That said, the story fell a bit flat for me. I'm not sure why? I think the plot just wasn't big enough. I needed more and was a bit bored.

That said, I still enjoyed this story and do recommend adding it to your LGBTQIA+ TBR. I also loved the audiobook. Ellie Gossage did a wonderful job and I'd absolutely listen to an auduobook narrated by them again!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.