I enjoyed Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. Mazey is a new author to me and I look forward to reading more by them in the future.
Late Bloomer is a sapphic romance between Opal and Pepper. Opal wins the lottery and ends up buying a flower farm where Pepper lives and states she is not moving out. They come to terms and Opal allows Pepper to continue living there. I enjoyed the growth of their friendship to romance though they are quite the opposite (opposites attract, right?!). This was a cute book and I gave it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I really enjoy this author and was so excited to have a sapphic romance from her! I absolutely loved the characters and their story to love! They really deserved an HEA. The story and steam was the perfect mix as a whole! I can’t wait for more romances from Maxey!

gosh this book holds such a special place in my heart. I LOVED this book so much. Mazey Eddings is an insanely talented author and I cant wait to read more by them. 5 stars all around.

I just finished this adorable opposites-attract romance, and it was such a fun read! 🌸💕 The premise—a lottery win and a flower farm—was super unique, and the slow-burn love story brought all the warm, happy vibes. 🌻✨

While I loved the book overall, I found the dual POV in the audiobook a bit tricky at times. The female narrators’ voices were similar, so if I wasn’t paying close attention to the chapter headings, I’d sometimes lose track of who was speaking.

This is a grumpy sunshine, opposites attract, sapphic romance with neurodivergence rep.
The "surface" conflicts were easily resolved, no real struggle. It was ok, not bad, not good.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An early DNF, I did not enjoy the writing style and my friend who had read the book already told me it didn’t change and I would not enjoy it.

DNF @ 28%. I would love to say more but I am withholding my review until St Martins Press meets the demands of the ongoing boycott.

As of August 27th R4A has determined the demands of the boycott have been met, so Im back to share some thoughts on this book. I don't think this worked for me due to several factors. I didn't love the characters, in most cases they were a little annoying to me. The writing style also didn't mesh well for me, I thought it was a little clunky and I had a hard time getting into the book. Overall this book just probably wasn't for me despite sounding really cute with a super pretty cover. Regardless, thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc!

this was such fun and lowkey wild ride to go on😭
these two together did stress me out at times but as a whole i adored their relationship, they had their ups and downs, yet everything between them played out wonderfully

This book hooked me from the very beginning. I am a sucker for a sapphic romance, and watching both Opal and Pepper learn more about themselves as they fell for each other was such a beautiful experience.

When Mazey announced this book and I saw the cover, I was so pumped to read this sapphic romance.

Winning the lottery is supposed to be a fun, live-changing moment, right? Well, for Opal Devlin, winning the lottery ruined her life. After quitting her dead-end job, people are literally knocking on Opal's door trying to get a handout now that she has money. Knowing that she's as a problem with saying no, Opal knows she needs to get away asap. So Opal does what any rational person would do, she buys a failing flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina to start her painting business. But when Opal arrives excited for this new chapter in her life, she finds an irritated Pepper Smith living on the farm. Pepper tells Opal she's the rightful owner of Thistle and Bloom Farms, and she's not moving. So they come up with a plan for co-habitation, butting heads at every turn. Can these two figure out to co-exist or will they burn the whole place down? Or maybe, just maybe, these two have found the thing they both needed: each other.

This was another sweet and fun sapphic romance. Opal is a force of nature used to getting used by people. Pepper, on the other hand, prefers to be left alone. But the more Pepper is around Opal's sunshine nature, the harder it is for to keep her at arm's length. Despite being two people with different approaches to life, you're rooting for them to work out their differences and have their relationship bloom into more.

Like always, Mazey does an amazing job with neurodivergent rep and writing such emotional characters. As always, Mazey is so thoughtful in her character development.

If you're looking for another sweet and cozy romance, you'll love this one!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I don't often find myself describing books as beautiful, however this one definitely makes the list and might be towards the top! I'll be the first to admit that I read way too many (if it's even possibly) heterosexual books about over the top romance and these people have flawless millionaire lives and often are far from relatable. Although winning the lottery and being lied to about buying a property with your winnings is also probably somewhat unlikely and not relatable, being a neurodivergent bisexual human is. And having shitty parents, and goofy siblings, and friends that actually stand up for you is also very relatable. Watching these two people grow and learn to give themselves grace (which is exactly as hard as they make it seem in the book) was so beautiful and touching. The way that Mazey Eddings writes had me enraptured and I couldn't put the book down. Her descriptions of how Pepper and Opal felt towards each other and how they handled their feelings was so unique and wonderful, and touching, and beautiful and I enjoyed every second. I absolutely loved this book. I hope I get to read more of her work later!

this book was just so soft!! This was such a sweet read. It wasn't as emotionally heavy hitting as some of the other romances I've read recently, but it still had impact, as Pepper is dealing with a lot of grief and Opal is learning to manage her people-pleasing tendencies. The romance between these two sapphics is just so sweet, and it is so amazing to see a sapphic nd4nd couple on-page (autistic x likely AuDHD). I'll say that I didn't find the pacing of the store to be the strongest, I really loved both the main characters and the wonderful side characters, which made the book for me. The setting of a flower farm was also so idyllic--only a great romance book could make me want to visit North Carolina!

Late Bloomer follows Opal after she wins the lottery and she battles the fakes in her life wanting to benefit from it. She decides to start over and buys a flower farm in North Carolina, where she meets Pepper. As they unfold the misunderstanding of who the rightful owner of the farm is, the two girls become friends as the sexual tension builds.

This book was a beautifully written sapphic opposites attract story. Not only were Opal and Pepper fantastic characters, but so were Opal’s sisters and Pepper’s friends. I want their stories as well!

Mazey Eddings has 100% become an instant read author for me!

Queer rep with all the happy and lovey vibes! What more could a girl ask for? It took a bit for me to feel the chemistry but once I did this quickly became a 4 star read!

I absolutely loved the representation in this book. It was treated and written so well. Both in sexuality and neurodivergency. My only complaint was that I couldn't fully believe in the romance of the main characters.

Late Bloomer has the cutest cover and I thought the premise of the story also sounded really cute, but unfortunately this didn't match my expectations. I didn't feel like Opal and Pepper had great chemistry and I found the overall story unfortunately a bit boring.

I really liked the setting of this book, as well as the complex representation of ADHD and Autism, but I was left wanting something from the romance. I have loved every other romance book by this author, and I just felt that the development between the characters was really lacking in this book.

There were some really strong elements to Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. First and foremost, the representation was great! Almost every character was queer, including possibly the most bisexual characters I've ever seen in one book. There was also neurodivergent representation that seemed to be handled with a lot of care.

The main characters, Opal and Pepper, were pretty relatable in a lot of ways. However, certain aspects of their personalities felt a bit unrealistic. For instance, Opal was a people pleaser but, especially at the beginning, the degree to which she was willing to bend over backwards for anyone regardless of how poorly they treated her felt extravagant. Then, she made the decision to try and stand up for herself more and it was as if she had flipped a switch and instantly solved the issue. The ease with which she stopped letting people step all over her made me wonder why she had ever done it in the first place.

The romance was cute but I didn't totally feel the connection between Opal and Pepper. Things between them developed a bit too quickly for my liking and it felt more like lust than love. However, there were still cute moments they shared together and I liked the way Opal showed up for Pepper and Pepper looked out for Opal in a way that neither of them had ever experienced before.

The plot was slow moving and at times I found myself wishing it would move faster. For the first 50% especially I felt like barely anything happened, That said, outside of the main plot there were some more emotional storylines that were well done. I especially liked the depiction of grief.

Overall, this wasn't a favorite romance for me but if the story sounds interesting to you and/or you're looking for neurodivergent representation and an easy-to-read sapphic romance with slightly heavier topics throughout, give this one a try.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to SMP for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this one so much. I have read previous Mazey Eddings and loved them, but this one just fell so terribly flat for me. Opal starts the book talking pretty much exclusively about what a push over she is as if that was her only trait and after winning the lottery, instead of just, idk saying no, she spends her entire winnings on a flower farm. A sale she found on Facebook marketplace. So, you pretty much start out questioning her functionality as an actual human person but when she meets with Trish and writes her a $310,000 check (an extra $10,000 because she's so darn likable!) for a plot of land with literally not a lawyer in sight you realize that she is, indeed, an idiot. Unfortunately, I think Eddings was trying to make her a likable idiot, but she is so overwritten as one that it's basically a caricature of a human, not an actual one. Her entire internal dialogue is about how likable and trustworthy Trish is meanwhile Trish was triggering my fight or flight response.

In comes Pepper, Trish's long abandoned daughter and rightful owner of the property Opal just purchased. While not as dumb as Opal, Pepper is also written so one dimensionally. She's just angry. Opal tries to do a nice thing after doing literally nothing to hurt Pepper and Pepper acts out like Opal has been spending years abusing her.

Nothing in this book was even kind of realistic and no character was likable. I tried my best but ended up DNFing around 30% after trying again twice to read it. I'm so sorry to Eddings but this one was not for me.

Late Bloomer shows us how two neurodivergent characters can complement each other so well. Opal is bright lives in the moment and is looking for a new start after winning a large sum on a scratch off. Pepper is reserved keeps to herself and a select few people. She feels most at hone when she is working on the flower farm. Put these two together after a huge misunderstanding will make you laugh and cry.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this digital arc. All opinions are my own.