Adorable but I wished I liked it more 😩 I enjoyed the writing and representation for the most part. Sadly I found it very boring because there was a distinct lack of conflict. I need more from my romances including romcom ones.

I went into this really excited and just wanted a little more from it I guess. I loved the writing, the characters, and the romance, there was just something that I felt was missing in a sense. I think it was the pacing, everything happened really fast and I just think it needed more time, if the book was just a bit longer I think it would be able to encompass what I'm feeling that it's missing

Started this audiobook yesterday- and I feel so seen. Mental health, anxiety, desperate need to please- YEP
Struggles with using alcohol as a means to be confident and social- YEP
Struggle to make friends and find a community - YES
Ok fine I'm envisioning both women as late 30s, early 40s. Otherwise, perfection. Some spice, lots of affirmation.

This will be perfect for someone! For me it didn't quite hit how I needed it to.

My problems:
Heroines don't have to be perfect, but Opal and Pepper are incredibly frustrating every step of the way. Their conflicts are so inconsequential most of the time that it can be annoying and sometimes a slog to work through. I found myself skipping over a lot of their arguments.

Not to be a boomer but there are just way too many references to modern day/internet culture-y things. It makes the book feel dated and it hasn't come out yet. (I'm sorry, I cringe whenever there's a Taylor Swift reference in a novel.) It takes me out, unfortunately.

The "disaster bi" trope doesn't work here and feels incredibly meh.

Good things:
Solid writing. A good level of steam without it being too much or overtaking the story. Neurodivergent (autistic) rep. Grief! Guaranteed HEA. Nice fluff.

It's a sweet love story, just maybe not for me!

I liked this book, but it took me a while to get into it. I don’t know why, I think at first it felt a little disjointed and off-center for me. But once it got going I really enjoyed the book.

Opal Devlin wins the lottery and then blindly buys a flower farm. Pepper Smith knows the farm is hers but where is her Grandma’s will to prove it? The two strike up an unlikely deal, then friendship, then more as they Bloom at Thistle and Bloom Farms.

Opal and Pepper are both quirky in different ways. They are each other’s grumpy to sunshine in opposite ways. When one is grumpy the other is sunshine and vice versa. It was sort of funny and cute at the same time.

Cute Book

Format - E ARC (NetGalley)

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶

Series- N/A

Troupes- opposites attract, enemies to lovers, forced proximity,

Representation- ADHD, Autism, anxiety, grief

CW- on page Panic attack

OMG Mazey is unstoppable, I will maintain that I will read anything she writes even it’s a phone book. So this adorable sapphic romance about a ADHD, chaos gremlin, artist falling for an autistic, flower farmer, control freak was everything I didn’t know I needed in my life!

Pepper and Opal are fictional people I want to be friends with so to say they are dynamic characters is an understatement. I love the flower farm as the setting! Mazey always paints the prettiest pictures in her story telling. I love Opal’s sisters and family and was really satisfied with the resolution of her terrible “Friends”

I loved the whole premiss of this story. Then Mazey sprinkled it with her magic with intense tension and longing looks and some spicy times Sex Ed and I was a goner.

Needless to say to love this book and if any of the above spoke to you, you will not regret picking up this one and falling in love with them!

Thank you Mazey Eddings, St Martins Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

Mazey Eddings does it again! When Opal wins the lottery why wouldn’t she buy a flower farm off of Facebook marketplace without visiting it first? Well luckily the farm is tbere, but so is its grumpy, hopeful inheritor Pepper (who can’t find the will of her deceased grandma anywhere!) and she wants nothing to do with Opal. Or does she? Quickly the two become roommates and the tension builds from there. (The sexy kind) This book is full of cheesy moments, blunt humor, autistic representation, and really good spice. Five stars!!

Well I very much appreciated some of the various representation in this book it had no real driving force and Opal was painfully annoying.

I continue to be a Eddings fan but this one was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher all opinions are mine.

This book is a gift from Mazey Eddings to readers. Late Bloomer by Eddings is a sapphic romance blooming with humour, compassion, and a hint of magic.

Meet Opal Devlin. Her life takes an unexpected turn after winning the lottery, and she faces a onslaught of relentless requests for handouts. Determined to protect herself, she invests her newfound wealth in a failing flower farm, yet her plan for solitude unravels. Meet Pepper Smith. She’s the fiery and gorgeous rightful owner of the farm, confronts her. The unlikely duo strike-up a cohabitation agreement, and their personalities clash at every turn. As the two butt heads, will sparks begin to fly?

Eddings' writing is both sparkling and raw, capturing the essence of queer joy and love. The Floridian setting adds warmth, and the magical realism elements infuse wonder into the story. I consider this book a must-read for anyone seeking a heartwarming romance that celebrates the power of community.

Eddings is a neurodiverse author who crafts love stories for every brain. If you're looking for a delightful and enchanting romance, Late Bloomer is the perfect choice!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

this is really tragic but i... did not like this. sometimes books just don't work out! but i really wanted this one to. i did love some parts, like pepper's journey with grief and how pepper and opal both learn to stand up for themselves.
unfortunately, the stuff i didn't like way overshadows the stuff i did. there's a lot that is definitely just a Me Thing, so i am going to keep this part of my review short (hopefully):
- i am sick and tired of "young people can't afford to live in this world" stories. this is my daily existence. i don't want to read about it (this is definitely just a me thing on account of how the world is full of people who are not constantly panicking about their futures! but alas, i am not one of them)
- this book suffers from a severe case of People Don't Talk Like That. every conversation with friends in this book is banter, opal and pepper are constantly writing each other love letters with their mouths. it's fun to read for a conversation but when all the dialogue is like that it just feels forced. nobody has the energy to keep that up every time they talk to someone. nobody can be witty nonstop like that. also: nobody says "and/or" out loud (at least i hope they don't). also keep your parentheses out of dialogue damn it: "that bitch (affectionate)" like no nobody says that out loud with their faces okay.
- i hate it when someone thinks something but oh no! they accidentally said it out loud! ummm no. not happening. shut up author you are incorrect.
- this much hugging people you just met is literally insane. i am a deeply huggy person and i find this concerning.
- all of pepper's friends and opal's sisters are so busy being Characters that they never get to be people. they only exist to be fun! quirky! supportive! like who has all this free time to just go help out no notice at a flower farm? who can give their friend so much of their energy so much of the time? are these people on cocaine?
- any sort of "let me guess your sexuality" is inherently boring.
- first person pov books love to have a non-gay queer character explain queerness and i do not know who it is for. they all go "i am attracted to this random quality and it doesn't matter the gender of the person and also i don't know any words that fit for me. bi, i guess. or pan" and genuinely i love that these people are able to love and fuck whoever they want but i don't need a shades of queerness ted talk in my queer romance novels.
- the times when pepper and opal fought i didn't even realise they were fighting until suddenly they like weren't talking to each other. not enough tension! i am the kind of person to hide from books and pace around my room and skip ahead to see what will happen when things get tense and i just uh didn't notice in this book? so that didn't happen.
- unsafe driving is not quirky and fun, actually.
- genuinely curious, what does impotence look like as a facial expression?
- and finally: pepper and opal got so many chances to learn to communicate with each other and never did because "love is enough!!" and i just do not believe that that is a relationship that can last sorry not sorry.
ok i am done that was longer than i meant it to be. but still. i didn't like this book, sorry!

A charming grumpy/sunshine romance — yes, I think the trope is even more apropos here with characters like Opal and Pepper, each of whom has a very distinct voice — about finding community and connection with the last person you ever expect to. There was just something about this novel that I connected to on a stronger level than Eddings' previous romance I'd read, and I think it managed to weave a lot of important conversations about mental health and neurodivergence into the plot in a much more skilled and layered way. Plus, honestly, I'm never going to say no to a sapphic romance in general (although I would've loved to see Opal's hair being actually pink on the cover given her misadventures around dyeing it in the story!), but it managed to be heartfelt and emotional without sacrificing the overall sweetness.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adored this book. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, as this was my first Mazey Eddings read, but goodness gracious was it a marvelous one.

First of all, the setting. A flower farm? Dreamy as heck and also my dream. Like, I’m not going to lie if I also suddenly came into like $500,000, I too would buy a flower farm outside of Asheville, NC. It’s just such a good location and really allowed some atmospheric romance and character growth.

Now, the characters. I thought that both Opal and Pepper were such beautiful characters. Opal with her openness and bubbly personality, and Pepper with her more stoic and introverted character traits really gave the readers two people they could fall for. I thought their romance was also really well done, and I finished this book in a day.

Truthfully, though, the thing that really made the book for me, and pushed it to the higher rating, was the neurodivergence rep. In so many beautiful ways, I saw myself in these characters. Opals challenge with settling down with one thing, and her overwhelm in certain situations. Peppers difficulties with communication and emotions. But the one part that was the moment where I said “wow this book is for me” was when Opals relationship with alcohol was mentioned. I do not drink, and I made that decision slowly over the course of the last 4 years. I know this isn’t about me but I think some context would be helpful for why this hit me so hard and was so moving. I never thought I truly had a problem with alcohol, but I didn’t like how I was using it. I drank almost exclusively in social situations, and it was to make myself comfortable enough to engage. But, in those instances, I wouldn’t know how to do anything but push the limits. I would drink to excess, make a fool of myself, and then regret it the next day. From how I read it, that’s so similar to how Opal felt and why she doesn’t drink. Looking at it now, this type of relationship with alcohol is probably an aspect of neurodivergence. But, prior to this book, I’ve never experienced someone putting into words my thoughts and feelings around this. And feeling seen in this way was so moving to me, and I am so thankful for Mazey for writing Opal this way.

In the end, I gave this book 4.75 stars, and highly recommend it to any other neurodivergent girls. I will also be adding all of Mazey’s books to my cart.

Eddings books are a hit or miss for me and this one unfortunately was a miss. I didn’t like Opal from the start, and impulsively buying property without even visiting let alone having an inspection certainly did not help the case. Pepper also wasn’t the most likable, though I could understand it was part of the character. Dikshta was the most likable in the book and she was hardly in it. This was full of impulsive decisions, lack of really talking issues out, and just became a bit too smutty by the end that I found myself skimming. Hoping the next connects better for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Late Bloomer was a pleasant surprise for me. I was prepared to like but not love. I went it with super low hopes and came out the winner of this story. It's the story of Opal, a down on her luck and a little bit lost people pleaser. When she wins the lottery, she decides to escape from her regular life and purchases a flower farm where she expects to hide and work on her art. What she also doesn't expect is Pepper. Pepper's grandma owned the flower farm and recently passed away leaving no known will. So P is totally blindsided when Opal buys her farm and shows up prepared to live there.

Proximity, the struggle to save the farm, family and personal struggles abound. But this steamy and heartwarming romance was a win in my book.

Opal wins the lottery and decides to buy a flower farm on a whim! She buys the farm without seeing it first (which drove me absolutely bananas!) and when she arrives, she finds out that the daughter of the woman who sold it to her is still living on the farm! Opal and the woman who lives there, Pepper, decide to live there together while Pepper tries to make enough money to buy it back from her.

💐 Pepper has an incredibly toxic mother who had abandoned her more than once. She's a super villain in the story, but adds an interesting backstory for Pepper.
💐 Opal's sisters and Pepper's friends make for great side characters. I am curious to see if Opal's sisters are going to get their own books.
💐 queer and neurodivergent rep
💐 hot and steamy! The steam was the best part of this book -- but I want the *romance* and characters to be the best part :/

💐Unfortunately, I didn't connect with these characters and this story the way I expected to! I usually love a chaotic character, and I don't feel like I always have to agree with every move a character makes, but I just found that Opal was too impulsive for me and her reactions to making mistakes felt very immature to me. I honestly felt stressed while reading her POV. She has some similarities to Lizzie Blake (from another book by this author), but the messiness just didn't win me over or charm me at all like it did in that book.
💐 I did enjoy Pepper's POV more, but it wasn't enough to make this a super enjoyable read for me. I also could not understand how these two struck a deal that kept Pepper on the farm even though Opal bought the farm already. It was so odd to me. Usually I can just "go with it" for romance reasons, but since one of Opal's issues was being walked all over by other people, I just wanted this addressed that she was doing something out of pure kindness and Pepper should have been super grateful that she was allowed to stay!

I'm sad this wasn't a big win for me because I love Mazey Eddings! Hoping I love the next book she writes much more!

This was sweet and tender, just like Mazeys books are usually. I will say, opal took a little bit to grow on me and both her and pepper took a long time to come around on the ways they were stuck on. But after reading the authors note it made a lot of sense ? Overall I really enjoyed and recommend !

this was so sweet and cringey and cheesy and wholesome. It had a lot of pop culture references and a more than a couple times i was rolling my eyes.

BUT there was also a great deal of times i was swooning over Opal and Pepper. Laughing with Diksha and Opal’s sisters and now i officially want a but shaped vase.

I adored all the characters in this store - besides Pepper’s mom & Opal’s “stalkers” IYKYK. We all need a Diksha.

This book was a DELIGHT. I loved every second of it, even the cliche and cheesy parts made it feel like this story was rational and sweet. I think this book did a great job of highlighting what neurodivergence looks like in two different people but it didn't hinder them from falling in love. Reading about Opal and Pepper's love story coming to full bloom was such a gift.

Some people will really love this book, but it missed the mark for me in a couple of ways. I loved Eddings previous books but something about this one made it only okay. There was a lot of telling instead of showing in this one, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.
A lot of the humor also felt very 2023 chronically online – in a way that I feel is going to feel very dated in just a few years. A lot of the humor and jokes just didn’t land with me because of this as it’s just not the kind of humor I enjoy in books.

I did really enjoy the ADHD and autism rep in this book and thought it was done really well! I really liked that Eddings made it clear that communication is different for neurodivergent people and we don’t all communicate the same.
I feel like a lot of people will relate to the two main characters for different reasons and enjoy them a lot throughout the story!

Overall this one was okay for me, but I think if you loved Eddings previous books that you should give this one a try!

My short review:
🥹 This book was beautiful! I really hope it finds the right audience and gets all the love it truly deserves! If you want to read a beautiful love story about two flawed people who aren’t typically shown in a romantic comedy, this is for you. I loved it.

My detailed thoughts:
I related to Pepper in a way that’s honestly scary. Both Opal and Pepper are neurodivergent but Pepper is the one that made me feel seen. She has major trust issues. She isn’t good with her words. It takes her time to process her feelings. All of that is 100% relatable to me. I loved Pepper. Some of her chapters brought me to tears because I felt so connected to her. I felt like both characters in their own individual neurodiversity were written with love and care.

The flower farm was such an amazing setting to me. Imagining the beauty and the smells. Gah, I loved it so much!

I loved that this was a beautiful love story but it also was about two people finding their own worth. They both had a lot of personal growth they needed to go through and they did it! I’m so happy for these two fictional ladies, it’s insane.

Was it a little cheesy at times? Sure. It also took me a little bit to fully be hooked but I still really like this book. 😊

Thank you so much St Martins Press and Mazey Eddings for the opportunity to read this ARC. I loved it and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.