I love Mazey Eddings and her mental health and neurodivergent representation that she writes. Opal and Pepper were very sweet and I love unapologetic sapphic love! There were points where this book felt a little slow and dragging for me, it was just hard for me to feel completely drawn into the story at times. But overall super cute and fluffy and funny.

Mazey Edding's Late Bloomer is a heartfelt romance that's so much more than just two people falling in love with each other.

Opal and Pepper, two complete strangers living in a house...find out what happens when they stop being polite and start getting real...The Real World: Ashville.

Ok, jokes aside, I loved the emotion of this book. It really made me connect to the characters and root for them to get their happy endings. But more than that, it felt real (and maybe a little familiar).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an earc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and netgally for the advanced copy of this incredible book.
Mazey Eddings has been and will continue to be an auto buy author for me. I adore her stories, the characters and the worlds she creates. Her characters are so realistic and amazingly written. I find myself relating to them and feeling so comforted by them. There were so many quotes from Opal that felt like they were spoken to me and I really felt them. It was so incredible to see both characters go through the journeys to discover more about themselves and really grow as people. The flower farm setting was the cutest and I loved learning about different kinds of flowers throughout the book. I loved Opal and Pepper and their group of friends. Such a cute and special story!

"Late Bloomer" is a literary gem that captivated me from start to finish. From its poignant storytelling to its beautifully crafted characters, this book struck a chord deep within me. The author's ability to weave together themes of self-discovery, resilience, and the journey towards personal growth is truly remarkable.

What I loved most about "Late Bloomer" was its authenticity. The characters felt real, flawed yet endearing, and their struggles resonated with me on a profound level. The narrative is rich with emotion, drawing readers into a world where every triumph and setback feels palpable.

One of the standout elements of this book is the way it celebrates the idea of embracing one's uniqueness and finding beauty in imperfection. It's a reminder that life's greatest moments often come when we least expect them, and that it's never too late to pursue our passions and dreams.

Overall, "Late Bloomer" is a masterpiece that left me feeling deeply moved and inspired. It's a must-read for anyone who appreciates heartfelt storytelling and profound insights into the human experience.

This one was adorable!! A slow burn of opposites attract. Opal wins the lottery and decides to buy a flower farm so she can pursue her art. What she doesn’t expect to find is someone living there who doesn’t want to leave, Pepper. Opal talks too much and Pepper is hard to crack. Both are discovering more about them selves on this farm. Growing into themselves hence the late bloomer. This book is cheesy and adorable.

Both of these characters have a form of nurodivergence. I absolutely loved how the author brought that into these characters and showed the struggles people with autism can face when forming new relationships.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Mazey Eddings has done it again. I have been a fan of hers since she first released "A Brush With Love," and I've read all of her books as soon as I possibly can (either preorder or applying for ARCs). No matter how different each story is, I always find myself falling head over heels in love with the book.

Eddings has an incredible voice, and we are all so lucky she became an author. Her characters are so well-rounded I confuse them for spheres. They have their own voices and dreams and fears and character arcs. I love how each couple meshes together in their own unique way. It always feels like meeting Eddings's writing for the first time.

She also writes the healthiest relationships ever. They communicate and support each other. They grow and learn separately and together. This book is a slight dislike to lovers which was so so fun to read. This is Eddings's first sapphic book, but I really hope it isn't the last.

The writing is funny, raw, emotional, honest, vulnerable, swoony, and so many more adjectives. The characters feel real. The romance makes my heart ache with love and longing. If you haven't read anything by Mazey Eddings, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE???

Long story short, I devoured this book in a day, and I am already waiting for her next release.

This was so cuuute! I love watching these two fall in love and adored watching them fall in love. Such a beautifully written story ❤️

what can I say about this book that hasn't been said yet? I absolutely adored everything about it. It was adorable and the romance was perfect! There is definitely a reason this is one of the biggest releases of the year!

Late bloomer is a sapphic grumpy/sunshine romance set on a flower farm in Asheville. For me, all of those things are green flags, so I had to request this ARC. I’m so glad that it did! This is my second book by Mazey Eddings, and I enjoyed this just as much as the first!

Opal and Pepper had a very cute relationship. Opal is trying to start a new life on the flower farm, while Pepper distrusts Opal’s intentions. The author did a great job with their characterization. I enjoyed reading them become comfortable and vulnerable with each other. I also appreciated how they had very distinct voices in their respective POVs. A lot of dual-perspective, same-sex romance I have read has blended the characters a bit too much, and this one does not make that mistake.

Mazey Eddings is one of the best at writing neurodivergent characters. In this story, Pepper is autistic and Opal is undiagnosed (but implied to have ADHD). I loved how their neurodivergence tied into other aspects of mental health, such as grief, alcoholism, and tricky family dynamics. I was pleasantly surprised with how emotional and relatable these parts of the story were.

I could go into so much detail about this book and what I adore about it, but I want to avoid giving out spoilers.

This one gets a big YES from me, and it will be perfect for its springtime release!

“Late Bloomer” by Mazey Eddings is her first sapphic romance (and hopefully not her last), and it is as beautiful on the inside as the outside (The cover is GORGEOUS). It was cute, fun, quick to read, and based on an adorable but outlandish scenario which is all anyone can ask for in a romance. Opal and Pepper’s chemistry knocked the breath out of me more than once. The way they learn to manage their own insecurities and brain chemistry so they can communicate with tenderness, was spectacular. They complement each other perfectly and I loved seeing them grow so much for the better as they navigate each other in the beginning, start a friendship, and eventual relationship. There is so much love, acceptance, joy and happiness, mingled with the harsh and sucky moments that come with life, that make this story so lovingly realistic and hopeful. I love romance where the characters become better people because of each other. I cannot say enough good things about Mazey Eddings, and what she delivered with this book! Mazey did a fantastic job of spinning a beautiful love story between two neuro-divergent souls! Representation is so important, and this story served just the right amount of humor, romance, and spice. I adored the pop culture references throughout. I enjoyed their assorted friends and family and wouldn’t mind seeing them in future books. I hope that we do get books on both of Opal’s sisters. I absolutely adored them! I love the detailed explanations of flower choices throughout the book and their meaning in the back. I don’t have much knowledge of flower symbolism so I appreciated the explanation and it made so many of the moments in the book even sweeter. I can honestly say, I will not only be re-reading this one again, but I will also be recommending it to just about everyone! Thanks to Mazy Eddings, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I look forward to reading Mazey’s next book.

This was a slow burn but once I got into it I fell inlove with the way the characters unfolded. It was so sweet to watch how the characters grew to love each other.

This was such a great book! I was drawn to this one by the cute illustrated cover. A great cover is usually the drawing factor for me! This is my first book by Mazey Eddings and it was written beautifully and I loved the storyline.
The characters were so cute and I loved the romance. The chemistry was great and I will definitely be checking out Mazey Eddings in the future! I recommend this book for anybody looking for a cute romance read!

Big thank you goes out to @netgalley, St. Martins Press and Mazey Eddings for giving me the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 🙌🏼

We all dream of winning the lottery. What would we buy, what amazing things would we do? For Opal, the reality isn’t as great as she thought it would be. Once news gets out that she won the lottery, everyone – including the people she hasn’t talked to in ages – starts asking her to grab a coffee together or hang out. And even her best friend, Janey, is quickly showing her true colors (to be fair, only Opal thought they were best friends).
Opal’s life has been spiraling for a while. Opal has a history of saying yes to everyone, partly because she’s just kind, but also because she’s a terrible people-pleaser, and terrified of hurting someone or turning them down. To the point that for a long time she’s put her own wants to the side and forgotten who she wants to be.
Yet armed with this small fortune, Opal decides she’s going to get a fresh start. And start saying no to other people. When her sisters remind her that she loves nature and hated New York City the one time she visited, she begins looking for another place. Impulsively (as Opal does everything) she spends most of her money on a Flower Farm in Ashville, North Carolina. Falling in love with its beauty, she decides the flowers can take care of themselves, while she paints shoes and textiles, living her artist dream.
All of that very quickly goes out the window, when she discovers the farm comes with Pepper Boden, the grouchy but gorgeous woman who claims to be the real owner of Thistle and Blooms Farm. Faced with making someone unhappy, Opal finds a way to make it work, suggesting co-habiting until they figure the whole thing out. Opal and Pepper are the definition of opposites attract, and continually seem to argue, and get distracted. Yet, it starts becoming more and more difficult to argue with the attraction they feel for one another.
This sapphic romance is quirky, full of fun pop culture puns (albeit quite possibly ones that mostly millennials will understand), and adorable to the max. Opal and Pepper are fire together, and their journey to figuring out their own relationship and feelings coincides nicely with the story of the farm.
Part of what I love so much of this novel is all the LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent representation, which seems completely natural and normal. It is unapologetically upfront with everyone’s quirks, habits, and choices. Opal dyes her hair during any crisis, and she also battles with her own ADHD. There are many other examples, but I don’t want to list them because it’d spoil the book, so just trust me on this one.
One message is also loud and clear throughout – that we should always get to be who we want to be, and our friends should support that. Through so many scenes we process levels of hurt that have come not only from fake friends, relationships, family and others, but also from places of insecurity and the difficulty of being able to accept that we are who we are. We see characters learn to love themselves and others, while realizing the good relationships that we have.
I absolutely love Opal’s two sisters, and I wish we had seen more of her parents, as they also seemed great. Pepper’s friend group is fun, and a great addition to the story as well. As the story progresses, we also learn about her grandmother, as she deals with the grief of recently losing her.
Overall, this story touches on so many important themes, while being an absolutely adorable (yet spicy) romance. I can’t recommend it enough.

Late Bloomer follows Opal and Pepper. Opal recently won the lottery, and she decides to purchase a flower farm for a fresh start. When Opal shows up to her new home Thistle and Bloom, she finds that it is already occupied by Pepper. It turns out that Pepper's estranged Mother sold the farm to Opal, and now the two must navigate living together while trying to save Thistle and Bloom.

There is a lot to love about Late Bloomer- grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity, friends with benefits turned to lovers. In addition to these fun tropes, there is great representation. Pepper identifies as queer and autistic, and Opal as bisexual and nuerodivergent. Not to mention, this book was downright hilarious. This was my first experience with this author, and I truly enjoyed Mazey Edding's writing style. Her references always felt so natural to the characters and genuinely made me laugh out loud throughout the book.

However, these aspects were not enough for me to love this book. I really, really, REALLY wanted to love Late Bloomer, but after about two-thirds of the book I just lost interest. Both Pepper and Opal were characters I had an interesting relationship with. I found them both to be funny and genuine, however they had a constant "will they/won't they" dance where the two just refused to talk about their feelings. Instead, they got in their heads about what the other one thought about them. I'm not saying that this is not relatable, however it quickly became tired the more that it happened. I also thought that this book had far too much going on- I wish certain elements had been more elaborated on to create a more interesting and stable plot.

Overall, I enjoyed Late Bloomer but left disappointed as I was wanting more from it. I'll definitely read more by Mazey Eddings in the future, I just think that the plot and pacing of this one did not work for me. 2.5 stars.

This is a gem of a book. I loved everything from the characters to the plot. Five golden stars to you.

Oh my god this is now my favorite sapphic romance of all time 😭 2 bisexual main characters, autism and adhd rep, grumpy sunshine, close proximity AND a flower farm?? It’s just too perfect. 5 sparkling stars

This cover drew me in and the book was very cute. I liked how the character development played out and I really liked the relationship and the depths. This is a must read for the year if you want to feel good book.

Thank you for the ARC Netgalley!!!
this was a sweet wlw romance based around flowers. Pepper’s AND Opal’s names are queer and their backgrounds sad but they are cute. I did think their flower art was going to be something very different than it ended up being but it was still very cute!

I want to start by saying: I love Mazey Eddings. A Brush with Love is one of my favourite romance novels. I liked the other two books in that series and her YA novel, Tilly in Technicolor. So, no one is more surprised and disappointed than me that Late Bloomer just... wasn't for me.

It has the wittiness and the neurodivergent rep I've come to expect and enjoy with Mazey's books, but whatever I was supposed to feel between Pepper and Opal, I just didn't. Something was missing for me and to be honest, I was bored.

It made me think of something my teacher used to tell us about writing: "Show, don't tell". It felt like I was just supposed to buy this relationship because they SAID they liked/loved/wanted each other, but the physical chemistry and the emotional build-up was lacking. There was also a lot of inner turmoil that started to feel repetitive and a lot of little heart-to-heart speeches that were flowery and clichéd, and kept making me think: "People don't really talk like that".

That being said, you might like it if you're wanting to read something short and cozy with not a lot of conflict. I'm bummed this one fell flat for me, but I'll still look forward to what Mazey writes next.

I loved Mazey Eddings previous books, and was really looking forward to this one. First, the cover is divine, and the premise is very much needed in the world of romance books - a dual point of view queer romance with neurodivergent MCs and sapphic spice. The representation of autism, ADHD, and bisexuality is detailed and normalized. There are many fun and lighthearted moments, especially when Opal’s sisters and Pepper’s friends are included. The setting is described in such a natural flow with the rest of the story, you feel like you are right there with characters but not exactly sure how it happened - perfect!
However, the book fell flat for me. The plot meandered along and mostly consisted of the thoughts of Opal and Pepper, switching back and forth. I understand that perception and communication were difficult for these two characters, but the Opal in her own chapters and the Opal in Pepper’s chapters felt like 2 completely different characters. Never did Pepper get to know Opal enough to gradually change her perception of her. There were very few scenes of them getting to know each other, which made the lust and spice feel forced and unlikely. And there’s a lot of spice starting at about 50%. I don’t mind spice at all at any level. I just wish there were more scenes to expand the plot into other deep interactions. Finally, I couldn’t get past Opal’s portrayal as the messed up childish interloper who was trespassing on Pepper’s home and livelihood. She spent the whole book apologizing, trying to take up as little space as possible, and giving all her time and energy - and money - to trying to fix things for Pepper so she could keep her home. When actually, Opal legally owned all of it! She paid well for it and had the deed in hand. And this fact was barely acknowledged throughout the entire book. Pepper was angry and frustrated at Opal being there, when she should have been thanking her lucky stars Opal let her stay. Pepper’s autism should not be an excuse to treat someone poorly. It felt icky from the very beginning all the way to the end. There are many things to love about this romance, but I didn’t love it overall. However, Mazey Eddings is still a favorite of mine, and I’m excited to see what she writes next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.