★ ★ ★ ★ //5

Late Bloomer
by: Mazey Eddings

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVE OPAL AND PEPPER! I loved them through this entire book. This book was a breath of fresh air and the slow burn was done to perfection. I loved sitting down with this light and sweet romance and page after page watched their relationship develop and unfurl. I was so sad when this book was over. I think that everybody should give this a read. Slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, forced proximity—if you enjoy these tropes you will absolutely love this book, put this on your TBR for it’s release

I fell in love with this book and its characters so quickly. I am a sucker for forced proximity trope books and this book was *chef's kiss*. I haven't highlighted so many lines in a book like this in a long time. I was always laughing, smiling, or crying through the whole book (sometimes all at once). Ugh, it was just so good.

Opal and Pepper were a mess, and I mean that in the best possible way. I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow, and appreciated the little details that incorporated their neurodivergence into both their relationship, but also with their friends/family. I've really enjoyed everything I've read from Mazey Eddings, and would read anything new in a heartbeat.

I adored this one! I have loved everything from Mazey Eddings so far and this one did not disappoint. It was perfection. I read it in one sitting and then hated myself for blasting through it so far.

I received this ARC from NetGalley.

I loved this book! I thought is was an excellent little rom com with good character development, a romance you couldn’t help but root for, and an adorable setting on a flower farm. As someone who has adhd, I also loved that both characters were neurodivergent. I’ve read rom coms that are neurodivergent coded, but I don’t think I’ve read one with explicitly neurodivergent characters and I related very strongly with Opal. There is something very special reading a book where you see yourself in a character, and I felt that strongly when reading this book. I also liked that there are content warnings at the start of the book. (grief after the loss of a loved one, complicated relationship with alcohol, parental neglect/ abandonment).

I am absolutely obsessed with this book!
I requested an advanced copy of Late Bloomer because I love a bi romance and thought the cover was cute and the title was clever. I was not expecting to absolutely fall in love with it as much as I did.
If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be “delightful”. The setting was idyllic, the plot was fun and flirty, and the spicy scenes were hot and perfectly placed. The writing was also hilarious. I found myself actually giggling at some of the dialogue. The use of modern slang was fun without being cringey. It felt very authentic to how 20-somethings would actually talk to each other. Pepper’s friends also felt very authentic. I found myself wishing I could be part of their group!
Opal and Pepper are both so relatable and adorable. They are both the perfect amount of awkward while still being extremely likable. And their self doubts/past traumas gave gravity to the situation that made me all the more invested in the outcome of their relationship.
I loved that the grumpy/sunshine dynamic didn’t feel forced. Opal is optimistic because she just won the lottery and is making a new start, while Pepper is angry at losing her grandmother, the farm and seemingly everything good in her life. They make perfect foils for each other without being so completely opposing that their relationship is unbelievable. Some of my favorite scenes in the book were the moments of little intimacy where they both dropped their guard and let slip how much they each really cared.
My only note would be that the ending felt a bit rushed. The third-act-breakup after the competition left me wondering if it was really necessary. I felt like both Opal and Pepper’s emotional development throughout the book was kind of thrown away when they lost the competition and then miraculously built back up again in a matter of pages. I would have liked to see a more wholistic reconciliation to reassure me that their relationship was solid going into the epilogue. But the epilogue was perfect and Opal’s gift almost brought me to tears it was so thoughtful.
Overall I loved the book and will definitely be recommending it to friends and followers!

i liked this book a lot! the cover is gorgeous and i found our characters to be loveable and the representation is just *chefs kiss* it was very low stakes and a good comfort, cozy read if you want a happily ever after

Cute and swoony springtime f/f romance and my first book from this author.

Main character wins the lottery and decides to buy a flower farm. Love interest works on the flower farm and the farm has been in her family for years. They work together to enter a flower competition. Both are at a crossroads. Both are neurodivergent.
Main character is bisexual and ADHD. Love interest is lesbian and autistic.

What worked:
-Neurodivergent rep
-Smut scenes
-Swoony and cute
-Dual POV

What didn’t:
-Wasn’t interested in the flower farm and flower competition aspect
-Main character was chaotic and sometimes tediously so. I cared more about the love interest and wish she was the main character instead
-The title Late Bloomer didn’t really reflect the main character’s experiences - more so the love interest, so my expectations going into the book didn’t match its contents.

Publishes April 16, 2024. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The writing was fab and I loved the realistic look at floral farming. (The instagram accounts I follow make it look so easy!) Opal and Pepper had their flaws, but in a realistic and lovable way.

I was very happy to have the chance to read this ARC by Mazey Eddings. I have read several of her book previously and really enjoyed them. This book is no exception. It was very wholesome that shared a story about two people who found each other in the most unexpected ways. Pepper and Opal had different personalities and seemed to bring out the best in each other. I love the development of their story as they both realized what type of partner they were looking for. This was definitely a sweet story that I would recommend to others!

There was so much love I have for this story, the COVER alone makes me wanna give it 5 stars. The autistic and neurodivergent representation, with the sunshine versus grumpy main character -YESS it wins with the tropes. The most beautiful writing, I did love it so much to be honest. Honestly there was nothing bad about this book. The light hearted moments, and forced roommate situation. It was such a beautiful story, THE EPILOGUE I AM GOING CRAZY!!!

4.25 stars outta 5 rounded to 5 stars

This was gifted by Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

In this book, we are following Opal. Her life has not been the greatest. She works a minimum wage job and she’s just all around not having a great time. When suddenly her luck changes and she wins the lottery. Suddenly all of these people are wanting things from her and she’s having a hard time setting boundaries and saying no so naturally she decides that she should put her money somewhere that people can’t ask for it, a struggling flower farm. Does she know that this flower farm is about to change her life and even bigger ways than winning the lottery does. She meets Pepper, the owner of said struggling flower farm. Opal wants her to move out, but Pepper has no intentions of going anywhere. South east two strike up and agreement to try to work together and coexist. The banter, neither one of them expects the growing attraction to come to a head, but what will they make of it?

This book is absolutely adorable. From the cover, which is gorgeous to the writing to the setting and the plot overall, I just really loved this book. It felt like the perfect mix of everything that I want in a sapphic romance story. If you like flowers, romance, queers, and an adorable story then I highly recommend checking this book out. I can’t wait for everyone to have their hands on this one!

What do you do when you win the lottery?? Not the Mega Millions lottery, but a cool couple hundred thousand from a scratcher that your "friend" gave you for your birthday.

Well, if you're Opal you buy a flower farm. I mean, that's not spontaneous (she buys it sight unseen from a Facebook Marketplace ad) or anything, right?

Imagine Opal's surprise when she gets to the farm and finds someone already living there. Pepper has lived and worked there since her mom abandoned her in her teens with her grandmother. She's devastated to find out her mother has sold the farm to Opal without letting her know.

What follows is two adult women coming into their own while also falling in love, against their better judgment. They're opposites who are both neurodivergent and not the best at communicating.

This book was cute, a little too cute at times for me, but overall a sweet read with some spicy scenes as well.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book made me feel all the feels. Some of it was a bit cheesy like the lottery and Opal’s friends/Tish but moved the plot and only made their love more clear to the other. Loved the pop culture references like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.
I would love to have a flower farm mostly for pleasure so I felt like I could feel Pepper’s love for the farm and how cozy and beautiful it would be.
Rare to read a book with lgbtq content without homophobia and loved how they just existed.

While I love books with multiple POV, it also makes me so annoyed when the whole book it’s obvious the characters just need to get out of their heads and talk to each other. I know a lot of that is likely also the author portraying neurodiverse characters. I enjoyed getting those perspectives, but I also really just wanted them to talk to each other. This was a sweet book overall and I loved the flower definitions at the end.

4 stars!

First off, the cover is stunning!

I always enjoy a good sapphic romance, even more so when there's some neurodivergent sprinkled in.

I loved the premise of this book, a flower farm, are you kidding me?!?! I loved learning about all the flowers and getting a sneak peak into the life of a flower farm (the good and the ugly).

I loved the relationship between Pepper and Opal and I also enjoyed Opal's sisters and Pepper's friends.

I will say that I found this book slower paced, I tend to enjoy a faster paced book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

i don’t think i’ve read such true autistic representation, and very rarely have found romance with the autistic character not being infantilized. pepper and opal’s love story is so sweet and strange and silly, this was such a good read

What a delight this is for all readers, especially angsty, neurodivergent queers! Late bloomers is a gorgeous and delicious queer romance with some of the very best neurodivergent rep I’ve seen on the page. Opal is the quintessential chaos bi, and Pepper is such a beautiful prickly cactus who is nothing but mush inside. Her journey of self discovery is so honest and often underrepresented in queer lit. What makes this a true triumph, however, is the neurodivergent rep. Eddings has created two deeply complicated and endearing characters who get to be their entire selves. By allowing both characters to be candid and honest gives us insights not only in how they see and feel the world, but also in how they see each other. As a result, their careful dance around one another makes the intimate scenes all the more potent.
All the stars.

I. Loved. This. Book. As soon as I saw that this book was available on NetGalley, I HAD to have it. Mazey Eddings is one of my favorite authors, and this book is no exception. The concept was unique, the plot engaging, and the characters were compelling from page one. If you are looking for a fun sapphic book to read this upcoming spring, please pick this up! I will be getting a physical copy, which is how you know I enjoyed an e-book.

I appreciate getting an advanced copy of this book but I had to DNF @ 30%. I’ve loved Edding’s books prior to this but I wasn’t feeling the pace nor the relationship. I couldn’t become invested in their relationship like I previously had with the other relationships Edding’s has focused on. I really wanted to enjoy this but I couldn’t.