late bloomer review
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3.5/5
I loved Mazey Eddings writing in Tilly in Technicolor, so when I saw this on Netgalley i knew i had to request it. especially because it’s sapphic and more mature and small town romance
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pros:
+i love that it starts with a content warning!
+i wish i could win the lottery
+gay panic
+grumpy sunshine hits every time
+neurodivergent queer characters!!! my heart is so full
+one of my favorite things ever is when characters talk to themselves in their head because it’s how i think too
+i love their height difference!!!
+steamy smut
+mutual obsession
+flower farm setting is so cute
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cons:
-heavy on the miscommunication trope
-a tad repetitive
-none of the conflicts felt that realistic
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there were so many things i loved about this book, but at the end i didn’t have the same feeling after reading tilly in technicolor. don’t get me wrong, this is such a fun book and people should still read it. opal and pepper deserve all of the love and i can’t wait to see what more people think about it!

Sapphic romance on a flower farm and with Autism representation! This story is so heartwarming and had such a great balance of steaminess and pining!

Mazey Eddings is an auto-buy author for me. I love how she takes the time to share characters who are neurodiverse and also includes an open and honest depiction of different mental health challenges. Her characters have depth and a vulnerability that I don’t always see in books. Coupling that with humour makes them all the better. Late Bloomers is no exception. I really enjoyed Opal and Pepper individually and as the story unfolded with them together.

While I really enjoyed the book, I found some plausibility challenges that took me out of the book at times. Specifically, there were aspects around home ownership that I don’t believe would ever occur. Additionally, I found Opal’s character at the beginning of the book and her actions at the 1/3 mark and onwards not to align. I found myself thinking “a person with that background/history wouldn’t do this.”

Regardless though, I loved the heart of the book, I loved the dialogue and overall premise. I will forever continue to buy Mazey’s work because she’s out there tackling tough topics while presenting them in a way that makes me feel seen and I sincerely applaud the dedication and heart that goes into her storytelling.

Late Bloomer was such a cute book! It satisfied all of my cottagecore, sapphic fantasies from the special interest in flowers to the sprawling farm in Asheville. It was an adorable comfort read straight out of Taylor Swift’s folklore music album. One of the characters buys the other character greenhouses… What is more classic than that?

I loved Opal and Pepper’s story. I deeply enjoyed the character development alongside the romance. For example, I thought (at first) that Opal was going to be a major pick-me with all the people-pleasing tendencies, but I was completely wrong. As the plot progresses, we see what a strong, smart, and loyal person she is to the people she loves. That was a refreshing arc! Both characters are neurodiverse (though Opal isn’t sure what label fits her exactly), which was very relatable to an autistic person like me.

If there is a cozy, comforting (sapphic) version of Gilmore Girls, then this is it. Every detail was spot-on from autistic sensory issues to shoe art to niche special interests. (I loved Opal’s fleeting special interest in the Victorian era. I felt seen.) The epilogue was so perfect! I wish I lived in Opal’s and Pepper’s world! If you like sapphic romance, this will pander directly to your most iconic and cottagecore princess fantasies!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at St. Martin’s Griffin for my e-arc! I hope Mazey Eddings keeps writing sapphic romances, because I will most definitely be reading them all.

Also, I would buy the book just for the cover alone. Stunning!

I got sooo excited for this the moment I read the blurb and saw the gorgeous cover. I am so grateful I was lucky enough to get an eARC, and that this did not disappoint. I loved this. I mean I kind of didn’t have a choice when Eddings paired a chaos demon with a routine-loving “grump” and set it on a flower farm. The descriptions of flowers and the farm are so gorgeous. I could picture the stunning, sprawling fields with ease. 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.
This had me laughing out loud but also almost crying (there were several lines at the end that made me tear up). It was just so tender and cute. The way grief, self-acceptance, boundary setting, and love were explored was thoughtful and beautiful. Opal and Pepper have both dealt with a lot but the way they come together for each other and show up in ways that the other never expected anyone to was equally heartwarming as it was heart-wrenching. I want everything good for both of them. It was also really special to see the autistic and neurodivergent rep in this. There are aspects of myself in both Pepper and Opal, and I appreciate how much this made me feel seen.
I did think the overall story felt like it moved really quickly, and the ending especially felt a little fast. I also loved Opal’s sisters and Pepper’s friends and would’ve liked to see more of them. But I really enjoyed this. I have other things I want to share but don’t want to spoil. I have a feeling I’ll come back to yell about this and share quotes.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm incredibly devastated I have to wait for this book to release to read it again. I love Pper and Opal and their silly little autism gf/ audhd gf dynamic and the mutual pining!!!! The yearning is truly what its about!!!! Pretending you haven't been head over heels in love because you think they aren't but egg on your face they are! The found family friends trope! I wish miles a very swift kick in the balls and Laney a long walk off a short pier and Trish a bus Regina George style. I loved this book. I liked some of the alternate titles too, but I think Late Bloomer was the perfect choice. Also the spice was top notch. I had to stop reading this book at work it was so good and I have mastered the I'm reading smut with a straight face technique most of the time. Highly, highly recommend.

I enjoyed aspects of this book but I’m still confused why these characters fell in love. The first few chapters came on so strong I LOVED it. One character had a distinctive voice and mannerisms. The other main character was nice but I felt their personalities getting meshed and keeping track between chapters or conversations became difficult. I did think some of the larger issues were glossed over and would have enjoyed getting more detail on them but overall I thought this book was cozy and that was probably the point of not delving too deep. I would read other works from this author.

A cozy but spicy sapphic novel that gave me butterflies and feel more than I ever expected to. This story delves into grief and loss, heart break, and two women finding love in an unconventional way. I love that they’re both a little neurospicy but so passionate and the love feels both slow burn and firey I blushed so hard during the spicy scenes. This was so well written I throughly enjoyed it.

Very glad I got my hands on an ARC of this! An amazing feel-good romance that delves into some heavy topics but never fails to give you a warm fuzzy feeling! I hadn’t read anything by Mazey Eddings before this so I didn’t know what to expect but I was not disappointed!
Kind of along the lines of an enemies to lovers, the two end up in a situation where two women, slightly at odds with each other are forced to share a house. The two must find common ground to work together to save the flower farm they both live on.
Eddings writes incredibly compelling characters that had me rooting for them both! Using tried and true romance tropes, but subverting my expectations at the right times Mazey Eddings has written a beautiful, hilarious, and sexy novel that I will be recommending at every chance I get.

"Late Bloomer" was really adorable. It's definitely a feel-good romcom novel, and it was the perfect first read of Sapphic September. When Opal wins the lottery, she decides to use the money to give herself a new start by buying a flower farm and selling the shoes she paints. When she arrives at the farm, she finds that someone - an angry, yet gorgeous someone - is already living there. Pepper's lived on the flower farm the last few years with her late grandmother, and she's not ready to give it up. It's a beautiful begrudging-roommates to lovers romance novel featuring two neurodivergent women, demisexual rep, queer and specifically bi rep. Pepper and Opal balance each other out so well and end up bringing out the best in each other. "Late Bloomer" is a relatively quick read; the pacing is a bit choppy at the star, but it picks up and flows into a whirlwind of romance, flowers, friendship, and wonderfully written sexy times.
My only qualm with the book was the overuse of Gen Z slang. The modern language would probably make this book unrelatable to anyone over 30, and it definitely won't make it a timeless classic. I hope I never have to read the phrase "dead ass" in a book ever again.
Other than that? "Late Bloomer" is a highly recommended book from me.

While this book is a fairly predictable romance, it’s more than that and absolutely worth the read for the representation. Two women (self described as autistic and neurodivergent) navigating life and love, tackling their own fears and impulses, feelings and desires… for themselves and each other.

Too many Taylor Swift references (what did I expect from a very cottagecore sapphic white fem4fem cover - I read this for the decently enjoyable autistic rep)

The writing starts off a bit cringe but improves enough for me to find it decent for a romance. I would recommend it to some people but yeah I am finding myself more and more alienated by this type of sapphic romances

I mean sure it hits all the cute and tropy notes and I guess it's the right book to read for no thoughts entertainment, especially next spring

Also Opal has pink and then later green hair why is she blonde on the cover?

Wanted to cleanse my palette with a book by an author I was sure I’d enjoy. Because I need a nice, breezy book about a chick winning the lottery and rebooting her life on a flower farm. Yes, I do.

I have recently discovered this author and read 3 of her books in quick succession. I really liked them - lots of humor and mental health rep. Then this one came up on NetGalley so yes of course I want to read it…

I just wasn’t feeling this one, unfortunately. The characters were lame, I honestly couldn’t keep track of which one was narrating her chapter, there was no connection between the couple, there was absolutely zero plot, everything about it was quite dull…. Ugh.

I will definitely keep reading her books… I bet this is the start of a series with the sisters. But this just wasn’t as good as her others. Like, at all.

the warmest book i’ve read in a long time!! i loved every moment of this book <3 the MC’s were both so loveable and relatable and just had such a beautiful journey with their relationship. i desperately want more from mazey eddings!!

Really cute fun read! I enjoyed this book and the characters a lot. I loved the representation in this book and the banter between characters. This was a new author for me and I loved every second of their book.

Very unexpectedly loved this. When reading romance, the romance itself never really matters much to me. Sure, I want it to feel warm and right and not cringey. But was really pull me into a romance is everything around it. A gorgeous exploration of grief, neurodivergence, and found family really struck gold for me. My only complaint is I found the beginning to be a bit all over the place and it wrapped up very fast. Cannot recommend this more!!

this was a great book just like all the others she writes you get all the mazey eddings vibes in this book too

I want to say thank you for the galley copy of Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. This book was as cozy as a cup of tea drank in the middle of a wildflower field (see what I did there?). I really enjoyed being able to read this book before it's release. The cover was so pretty that it piqued my curiosity, and the contents of the novel did not disappoint. I couldn't put it down and read it in less than 24 hours.

I loved both Pepper and Opal, and related to both in different ways. Their grumpy/sunshine personalities were hilariously opposite, and the chemistry between the two was palpable through Edding's descriptions. Also, the spice was spicing, which is never a bad thing. I loved the setting of a flower farm, and I love that the running of the farm also played a vital role in the plot, it wasn't just a pretty place for the story to take place.

I would honestly love a sequel, see where the girls are in the future and maybe follow one or both of the sister's POVs.

We all know by now if Mazey Edding writes it, I will NEED to read it! (Plus we are both dentist 🦷 yay!)

Late Bloomer 🌸 is another winner from Mazey; this book was fast paced, a breathe of fresh air but most important a very raw story (she always writes some messy but relatable characters). I love the representation of autism and neurodiversity within the two MCs - it makes it almost impossible not to fall in love with Pepper and Opal.

Opal, a neurodivergent, wins the lottery just in time for a much needed life change. What she doesn’t expect is this life change isn’t what it seems to be from the get go as her world collides with Pepper, who is autistic. Opal is a people pleaser and Pepper would prefer to avoid people, but what “blossoms” and yes pun intended, is more beautiful than anything that can be grown in a garden.

This precious, feminine novel has so much amazing mental health representation and will leave you with all the feels! PS - loved a little Lizzie mention too made my heart flutter

A cute book that I would recommend for people that like romance or queer books!! I would give this book a 4/5 stars I did enjoy the plot and the characters