Girl yes! This is an epic sapphic love story. I came for the queer stories and stayed for the fun premise, hilarious characters, and great chemistry. This will be the next popular rom com (think Red White and Royal Blue or Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail). So excited for everyone to fall in love with Opal!

Opal, recovering from a breakup and working retail, wins the lottery.

Then, of course, everyone finds out and all heck breaks loose. Flush with opportunities Opal buys a farm, intending to turn it to a artist retreat, only to find there's a resident and Opal bought it without the poor woman knowing.

Pepper, intent on running her Grandmother's farm, was unaware her mother had inherited after Grandma's passing. Now she has a stranger claiming she owns the place, and proposing they be roommates while figuring the mess out.

Pepper and Opal have a lot to work out.

Fun, lively book. I like both Opal and Pepper, and I thought their developing relationship was sweet. The supporting cast was also fun, and the conclusion worked for me.

Late Bloomer is hands down one of the best romance novels I’ve ever read!

After winning the lottery on a scratch-off ticket, Opal buys a cozy little flower farm for a fresh start as an artist— only to find that the owner sold it out from under Pepper, the farm’s only live-in employee. Despite crash landing into each other’s lives in the most inconvenient way (and not exactly making great first impressions), the two try to make it work while navigating their own goals and dreams. Oh yeah, and their ever-growing attraction to each other. (!!)

I loved this book for so many reasons. The first being the characters themselves and the neurodivergent representation— Pepper is autistic, and though Opal has never received a formal diagnosis, she knows she is neurodiverse in some way, self-diagnosing as having some amalgamation of ADHD and autism. The way these characters think, process their environments, and navigate things like social anxiety, relationships, friendships, and alcohol abuse had me CONVINCED Mazey Eddings is somehow inside of my brain. I’ve NEVER felt so seen when reading a book. I absolutely love when writers embrace the messiness of being a person and lean into confusing and questionable gray areas rather than relying on a certain representation that’s clear cut and more palatable. Those are the types of characters that feel like real people and real friends, the types of characters that keep me thinking about a story for weeks and months after I’ve put it down.

Past that, the plot is so much fun to follow, the grumpy/sunshine dynamic had me kicking my little feet, and the friendships and surrounding relationships were so wholesome and heartwarming. I do think there’s way too much sex and the sex scenes themselves are a bit gratuitous, but that’s a personal preference for sure!

Overall I think that this book is about to be one of the biggest romances of 2024, I’m calling it now!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC (advanced reader’s copy) in exchange for an honest review. Late Bloomer will be out in April 2024. :)

I will post my review once St. Martin's Press addresses the racist actions of their employee and their action plan for the future. Until then, I am joining my fellow reviewers in withholding reviews and any other promo for St. Martin’s Press. No backlash against the author of this book, it is simply due to the ongoing boycott of the publishing company.

What. A. Cute. Read! Thanks netgalley for the chance to read this one!! I really enjoyed this book! The characters were so lovable and relatable, the writing was funny yet serious and I couldn’t get enough. I loved opal and pepper so much and saw a lot of myself in opal. The ending was so good and I just didn’t want the story to end.

Read this if you like:
•forced proximity
•flowers
•opposites attract
•neurodivergent rep

This book was so dang cute. The humor and banter were top notch!

Thank you St Martins Griffin for eARC in exchange for an honest review

This was such a cute sapphic romance to read. Watching Opal and Pepper's relationship grow was so satisfying. This duo has such great chemistry you get to see unfold throughout the book. You’ll find yourself smiling continuously throughout the book as you see their relationship flourish. Overall, Late Bloomer is a feminine book full of great mental health representation. I loved every minute of reading this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am participating in the St Martin’s Press boycott. I will not publicly be reviewing this title until St. Martin’s Press addresses reader concerns.

This book gave me every single thing I wanted. The dislike? The angst? This book is honest and funny and just everything I hope it would be and more.

If Mazey writes it, I'll be reading it. She's an auto-buy author for me. I LOVED her A brush with Love series. Her characters are vulnerable, funny, sweet, kind, scared, compassionate... full of LOVE. I just love her stories and her book covers? SLAY.

Big thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me early access to this book!

This might be my favourite book that I've read this year.

The story follow Opal and Pepper. Opal just won the lottery and decides to move away from the city she grew up in for many different reasons and ends up buying Pepper's house, though at the time she doesn't know that it's Pepper's house and that there is someone already living there. Just her luck. The house is part of a gently failing flower farm, and together, with a lot of convincing, Opal helps Pepper bring it back.

This book was just so dang cute. I loved both Opal and Pepper. They are just such sweet people who are so honest about who they are and what they want. I love their energy. This book has a lot of things that I love; found family, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, it's just all so good.

If you're looking for a really sweet Sapphic romance with great characters than I highly recommend this one. It gave me the warm and fuzzies, and butterflies all at once.

"If our first kiss shocked me, this one rewires my entire system"

If Mazey Eddings has no fans, I am deceased.
I was SO EXCITED to receive this ARC of Late Bloomer, I absolutely ADORE everything that Mazey writes and this one is another slam dunk! Sapphic! Neurodivergent! Flower Farm in North Carolina! Found Family! Witty banter! It has everything that Mazey Eddings does best.

Opal and Pepper are absolutely adorable, I loved reading their story and falling in love with them as they fall in love with each other. Their back stories are so sweet and really make you root for them, especially Pepper! I just want to adopt her as my own!

If you are looking for a sweet, sassy, sapphic romance, this one is for you!

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings was such a cute book. I enjoyed my time reading it and thought the story progressed well. Late Bloomer was well written and the chemistry between the characters worked well.

The cover art is gorgeous and I always appreciate neurodivergent representation, but this fell a little flat for me. I didn’t feel like the characters voices were very distinct, especially around the 3/4 mark. I had to keep reminding myself which character was Opal and which was Pepper. Two cutesy names didn’t help either.

It took me a while to read because I didn’t feel connected to the story. I have enjoyed previous books by this author and will continue to pick up other books from her in the future. This one just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a free digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I know they say “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but I can’t help it sometimes. I was immediately attracted to this cover when I saw it - I mean come on, it’s gorgeous!! Plus I’ve always enjoyed Mandy Eddings’ books and especially her Neurodivergent characters. This book did not disappoint!

This was a very cute and easy read. It was low conflict, which I always appreciate. Opal and Pepper were going through their own personal struggles, but when it came down to it, we’re always there for each other. Watching Opal fumble through life was very relatable for me. It was beautiful seeing Pepper and Opal balance each other perfectly.

I really enjoyed the farm setting of this story. It had a cozy feel that made this a light and fun read. I did wish there was a little more with the competition. It seemed like it jumped from them finally deciding to do it to the competition day, which sort of caught me off guard. That being said, there was a lot going on in the plot to keep me interested outside of the competition storyline.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it, especially if you like a low conflict, cozy love story.

this was an actually sweet romcom! 3.5 stars

this was a quick and light romcom between opal, a former minimum-wage worker and newly crowned lottery worker who takes her earnings and buys a flower farm, and pepper, the granddaughter of the deceased owner of the flower farm. i liked it

i did appreciate the dual pov's; i feel like i never see it in romance books and it helps because you can see the differences between the two mc's. i remember thinking the writing, at times, was a bit cringy(don't ever reference current events in a book cause that dates it bad), but for the most part it was fine.

the characters was fine if just a tad underdeveloped; i would've liked for them to have a stronger difference in voice but i liked them and i also liked the sisters of opal

all in all, if you're looking for a quick, sweet, light-hearted romcom that has queer and neurodivergent representation, then you should consider picking this up

What an absolute treat this sapphic story was! Super fun and flirty.
Autistic and ND rep, sunshine grumpy trope, low angst!
the cover is absolutely stunning as well.

Cute sapphic romance! Opposites attract, slow burn, neuro divergent representation in this amazing book by Mazey Eddings. Who wouldn’t love to disappear and fall in love at a flower farm after wining the lottery?!?!

4.5 stars

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book was much as I did, but I LOVED the setting and both MCs.

4.5 stars rounded up
Opal Devlin was given a lottery ticket for her birthday and she won. She quits her job and decides to buy a flower farm outside of Asheville and paint shoes. When she gets to the farm she finds Pepper who actually owns the farm. Her grandmother just died and she thought she inherited it. Pepper's mom is something else.
Pepper seems autistic and doesn't like change. Opal is probably ADHD, creative and messy. (I'm not a doctor so I'm just guessing.) They both have challenges.

This was a fun spicy read. I really did love it. I knocked off half a star because I'm not a fan of the having sex but no feelings trope. It's not my favorite. 🤷‍♀️ I loved the writing and the author is one of my faves. I already preordered this book. They are an auto buy author. I loved the queer Neurodiversity and that cover. *Chef's kiss