It took me a while to warm to these characters. Once past the set up premise that brings them together I was onboard as the developing relationship is beautifully detailed from two perspectives. Solid contemporary lesbian romance between two twenty-something’s. Has descriptions of sexual activity and use of profanity.

Loved the relationship building and the slow unraveling and realization
Spice was so tender and I loved that they gave us the opposite of what was expected
The beginning started out kind of awkwardly and clunky … while I understand why we had to learn about each Opal and Pepper’s immediate headspace’s … it was a little jarring. Also I think there could’ve been more development of Opal’s family beyond her sisters. And even her sisters were just kind of there without depth. Pepper’s friends had the depth but I think the group was too big — they only interacted all as a group once so it seems kind of unnecessary. The multiple villains was hard, too, with Pepper’s mom and then Lacey and Miles. Idk I get it but also neither of them felt strong enough to be true conflicts. Though I did love that the girls fought for each other with their respective bullies. I wish we could’ve had more resolution after getting the will — it was kind of a mind shock that the story ended and then we got a small line in the epilogue. The business deal was such a huge part of the story and it felt glossed over at the end.
I also loved Lizzie’s bakery appearance.
Very solid, but not quite perfect, read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-arc in exchange for my review!

4.25/5
This book was so cute! Sunshine Opal wins the lottery and decides on a whim to buy a flower farm. When she arrives at the farm and finds grumpy Pepper already living and running the farm, they make a deal to figure out what to do together. What follows is a funny, sweet, and sexy story about people pleasing, grief, and figuring out their places in the world. I love Mazey Eddings’ writing style and love that she includes neurodiverse characters in her books. This was also her first sapphic romance. It was the gorgeous cover that pulled me in, but the story kept me there.

This was really lovely. Two women who seem polar opposites end up having claim of ownership to a flower farm. 🌸 💐🌺

Opal and Pepper are lovable, and it takes awhile for them to figure themselves out. There’s a lot of beautiful character work done throughout.

Just very lovely!

Screaming crying & throwing up!! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book I absolutely love late bloomer & I can’t wait for it to be out in the world. This book made me feel so seen as a woman who didn’t know she was bisexual until she was in her late twenties!

Mazey Eddings never disappoints!! Her books all immerse you into a world where you feel like you’re right there with the characters and Late Bloomer didn’t stray from that! It was witty, and laugh out loud funny, while also being extremely relatable. I loved the little family that Pepper and Opal created around them.

Opal wins the lottery and buys a flower farm. When she arrives, Pepper is already living there. Neurodiversity is well represented here! This was a cute romance

Thank you to Mazey Eddings and NetGalley for an ARC of Late Bloomer!

This book doesn’t come out for another 6 months, but the second it showed up as Read Now on NG, I JUMPED. Mazey is one of my favorite authors, and her ability to write relatable characters, dialogue, and situations is unmatched by very few. I knew that I would love her newest work, and I was not mistaken.

Late Bloomer is a delightful love letter to neurodivergent romance, life changes, and personal growth - you will want to leave your life behind and buy a flower farm after reading. Opal and Pepper could not be more different on the surface, but as they get to know each other, they find out how much they have in common and how each of their perceived “weaknesses” can be seen as strengths by the person who loves them.

As I expected from a Mazey book, these characters are also beyond hilarious. There were so many sections that I highlighted in my Kindle just saying “LOLOLOLOL”, and the Storygraph buddy read is basically just a thread of “This book has me CRYING laughing”. I absolutely cannot wait for this book to publish so that I can force everyone I know to read it - once again, Mazey hits it out of the park!!

Life hasn't been going Opal's way. She is in a mostly off again situationship and she was demoted to being the inflated ice cream cone at her dead end job. She is the person that will always bend over backwards for other people even when they won't do the same for her. Things change when her friend gives her a throw away belated birthday gift in the form of a scratch off lottery ticket. Suddenly Opal is $500,000 richer. Unfortunately that also means all of the people that regularly take advantage of her kindness are looking for more from her. A need for a fresh start has Opal making the impulsive decision to buy a flower farm. Her dream is to get away from the pressure and find a place where she can relax and create art.

The flower farm is not the escape she hoped for as she finds the farm is already occupied by Pepper Smith. She claims to be the rightful owner of the farm. Pepper has few people she can really trust in her life and is dealing with the loss of her beloved grandmother. Pepper and Opal decide to try to share the farm and home but this is not as simple as it seems due to their extremely different personalities. They have to learn to work together and deal with the feeling developing between them.

I adored this book! Mazey Eddings is a favorite of mine and I was thrilled to get to read her first sapphic book. Opal and Pepper are both wonderful. I really enjoyed the mental health and neurodivergent representation. The side characters are also a joy. Mazey is an auto buy author and can’t wait to see what she does next.


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Late Bloomer" by Mazey Eddings is a captivating and steamy romance! Opal's journey from winning the lottery to buying a flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina is filled with unexpected twists and turns. The arrival of Pepper, the rightful owner, adds a fiery dynamic to the story. Just wait to see how their opposites-attract relationship unfolds amidst their dreams and growing attraction! It's a sizzling and heartwarming read! This is definitely a low angst and low conflict comfy read, sometimes we all just need a comfy read. Now that I have, I'm going to go read something less cute that makes me pace back and forth with anxiety.

Cottage core lesbians rejoice! Late Bloomer does not disappoint a flower farm and two women forced to work together. Opal and Pepper's dislike of each other turns into a blossoming romance, all while they are forced to live with each other and cope with their respective angst. I'm so excited to pick this up on publication day,

This story is cute and funny at times, and at others it is upsetting. I really enjoyed the neurodivergent representation. I really hated pepper’s mom. I should have paid more attention to the content warnings.

Late bloomer is a cute little story about a couple of girls who both, for their own different reasons, are at dead ends in their lives. Neurodivergence, people pleasing, and bad parents brought them together in what could be a very fun iteration of the forced cohabitation trope, that quickly disintegrates into lots of miscommunication and spicy scenes that feel like they were written about different people. The book being from two perspectives shows how very different we perceive ourselves and are perceived by others. The opal in opal’s chapters seems to be a very different person than the opal in peppers chapters. After a slow start, the story suddenly speeds forward, to the point where it feels a little rushed at the end. I know there isn’t a lot to say about harvesting flowers, but I think the opportunity was missed for some cute domestic scenes to flesh out the big feelings between the main characters. While the book didn’t hit every note, most of it was good and fun, and there was enough interest to carry me through to the end. I probably wouldn’t suggest it out of the blue, but if someone were looking for a cute and spicy sapphic romance I would lead them toward Late Bloomer.

Set in a picturesque farm in Asheville, North Carolina, Late Bloomer's characters blossom as the book moves forward. Readers will see themselves in given BG, eager-to-please Opal and guarded, hurting Pepper and watching them come together is like watching a flower open to the sun--gradual but beautiful. Recommend for livers of queer romance, laughter, flowers, and the bonds of sisterhood, friendship, and love.

I have already read this title. My apologies to Netgalley to have bothered requesting it a second time.

to start off I will say that I did not realize that this book was auto-approval and that's totally my bad because I am not in the mood for fluffy contemporary romance at the moment. I really tried to read this entire book because it was my mistake, but I just wasn't feeling the tone or the characters. I stopped at around 50% way through. I did not feel engaged at all in the 200 pages I read. The POVs were too similar I kept getting confused who I was reading from and the prose felt like every single type of hello fellow kids internet buzzword vomit. Sorry.

A fun, well-rounded, cute romance with spice. I enjoyed the banter and the emotional depth of the story!

Mazey Eddings books always have the perfect mix of romance, comfort and good mental health rep and Late Bloomer did as well. This is a low angst romance where main character Opal wins the lottery and buys a failing flower farm to get away from everyone trying to use her to get some of her lottery money. She meets Pepper who works on the farm and they have a not so great first meeting because Pepper is supposed to be the owner of the farm. Despite the dislike between them they start living together on the farm and have to learn to work with each other which leads to an attraction and benefits situation.

I liked how low angst this because sometimes it what I need. I loved how opposites the characters were, grumpy sunshine ish is my jam, I’ve seen this in other reviews but I did also find it hard especially in the beginning to tell the different characters and their povs apart. The chemistry was working and the spicy scenes were done well. Also I’m glad for the neurodivergent and autistic rep and the realness to this romance. Overall a nice comfort read with a beautiful and real romance.

Read for:
- Sapphic romance
- Opposites attract
- Flower farm plot
- Mental health rep

Thank you SMP for this arc for an honest review.

Mild spoilers below

******

Characters – 6/10
Flaws through the inner dialogue were good and realistic to me. I liked the secondary characters, but they weren’t super memorable. I also felt like the mother seemed like a likeable character at first through Opal’s eyes, and then not at all through Penny’s eyes at the end. They are different characters, yes, but I felt like there should have been something at least a little unlikeable about the mother in the beginning in order for the last scene with her to really land.

Atmosphere – 7/10
Described the settings & characters decently.

Writing – 6.5/10
Sometimes I felt like the inner dialogue was heavier than it should be, even though I did think the inner dialogue helped round out the characters.

Plot – 5.5/10
I felt like the pacing was slow in the beginning and middle, and then too fast at the end. It took too long for the decision to do the competition.

Intrigue – 5.5/10
The book didn’t grab my attention as much as I would have liked. I wanted to see how it would end, but I much preferred to pick up other books before this one.

Logic – 5.5/10
Some of the fights between the characters didn’t seem to make sense or came out of nowhere.

Enjoyment – 5.5/10
I liked it, but I wouldn’t recommend it heartily. Just as something people may want to read as a light read to pass some time.

I really enjoyed this book! Opl was such a fun character and it was so great to explore her in the moments of humor and the moments of grief. The spice was fun and I would recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I DNF'ed at 25% of the way through.

I thought it was a weirdly depressing meet-up between the love interests. The mom illegally sold the grandmother's flower farm and the recently-turned-rich girl runs away from all her "friends" who want her money. It was pretty dark.

Even then, Pepper & Opal barely got along despite the central romance. I was happy to have the neurodivergent rep but they kept overexplaining everything and telling instead of just showing it was driving me nuts.

Maybe it got better later on but I wasn't feeling it.