I am happy to report that this book does indeed live up to the beauty of its cover 🌸🌸🌸

Opal wins the lottery and in hopes of a new beginning for herself, unknowingly purchases Pepper's flower farm out from under her. When she appears at Thistle and Bloom and realizes it already has a dedicated inhabitant, the two of them decide to become temporary roommates and... well, you can probably guess what comes next.

This book is set up as Opal's story, but Pepper really steals the show. I loved Pepper's character, but Opal felt almost as inconsistent as her hair color - which, maybe that was Mazey's point as she tried to move on from her 'people pleaser' personality, but her character just wasn't resonating with me as much. This inconsistency made the narration confusing, because the POV didn't consistently switch back and forth from chapter to chapter, so I often didn't know until I saw the other character's name. It just meant I had to reread sections, which certainly wasn't a bad thing because Mazey's writing and metaphors are beautiful.

Overall, this was such a cute, heart-warming daydream of a book. It felt like a sapphic, neurodivergent version of Lovelight Farms, probably because they have such similar characteristics - a cute farm setting, a competition they need to win, a group of friends coming together to save the farm, and side characters waiting for their stories to be told. I am hopeful that Olivia and Ophelia will get their own books too!

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s no secret I love Mazey Eddings’s writing and this book is no different.

This is a sapphic romance with two neurodivergent women who meet after Opal purchases a flower farm that Pepper is still living on. After some initial tension and animosity due to circumstances outside of themselves Opal and Pepper begin bonding and growing closer and closer until they finally kiss and things heat up from there.

This was such a lovey romance with found family, excellent neurodivergence representation and it handled the traumatic events/material well.

5 stars!

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover alone had me rushing to read this book, and I am so glad it was a read now. Mazey Eddings did an amazing job with this sapphic read and I enjoyed it till the very end. The angst, the opposites-attract grumpy x sunshine trope, and the dialogue had me eating this up. It was really nice to see the neurodivergence rep here and done well compared to some other books I've read. This was so engaging, I finished it in one sitting. A great, heartwarming, touching, short read for anyone looking for a charming sapphic romance novel.

A wonderfully tender, funny, and sexy romance about two neurodiverse women who could not be more different. So steamy, so smart, so lovely. This romance will bloom in readers' hearts!

With neurodivergent rep by both characters, this sapphic opposites attract romance was really good. For Opal, there was a found family aspect to the story that I loved although she had a solid family as well. Pepper had some trust issues because of her childhood, so the two have some obstacles to overcome. Oh, also the fact that Opal bought the farm Pepper thought would be given to her when her grandma died… that didn’t help with the trust issues. Good story with great main and secondary characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Late Bloomer to come out April 16, 2024.

this was sweet and harmless. I loved the side characters and the rep. The pacing just felt very... off.
Pretty much everything on the back cover happens within the first chapter, and then you're staring down 400 pages of who knows what.
Also, the only thing I hate more than a third act conflict is a third act conflict that happens like four times and comes out of absolutely nowhere. I had to go back and reread sections because I couldn't understand why the characters were suddenly yelling at each other.
ALSO the characterization felt all over the place. We read from both MCs perspectives, and while their inner monologues read extremely similar, the way they describe each other felt so at odds with the personalities I had crafted based on their thoughts before they met each other.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This is a very sweet, sapphic romance. It’s quite ridiculous and cheesy at times but so real and tender at others. One thing Eddings does really well is write about grief and heartache. The passages where Pepper is grieving the recent death of her grandmother almost always made me cry. It’s heartbreaking and raw and almost too real for this syrupy-sweet book.

Both Pepper and Opal are great neurodivergent representation- Pepper is autistic and has ADHD and Opal has self-diagnosed ADHD (which is so neurodivergent of her tbh) and are both generally a huge queer mess. All to say, I really enjoyed them as characters despite the fact that this book really doesn’t make much sense and if you’re a big cynic/hater like me, you have to suspend all disbelief in order to even go along with the story. Pepper and Opal are also basically the only two characters of any substance. The other characters are essentially plot devices that revolve around the main characters. Opal’s sisters particularly stuck out to me as flat- neither of them had a distinguishable personality and they lacked depth. That being said, it’s a great turn-your-brain-off book and those are much appreciated around here.

I will say that the climactic third-act breakup REALLY doesn’t make any sense to me. The fight they have is really unrealistic and took me out of the story a bit, because it did feel like making something out of nothing just for the plot’s sake. It also lasts like 2 seconds, so the tension isn’t drawn out much.

I can excuse outlandish, incredible rom-commy events but apparently I draw the line at stupid miscommunication?

Anyway, a good time was had so alls well that ends well and all that. Very cute!

Last thing- never once did Opal have just plain blonde hair and it bothers me that the cover depicts her with that instead of any other crazy color she sported!!!

I love Mazey so much as it is but this made my obsession with their work even more so. Opal and Pepper were amazing! The ANGST! This was such a raw and refreshing read, I cannot wait to read it again.

I received from Netgalley a digital advanced reader copy of Late Bloomer. Here are my honest thoughts.

The first 50% of Later Bloomer was perfection, witty and touching. I felt I could read about these characters forever. I was still happy to read their story and their happily ever after, but the story lost some momentum for me.

50% is also when the slow burn caught fire, and they entered into a physically intimate relationship. You know, while delusionally swearing that was all it would be. Like couples in romance do.

I'm kinda at a place where intimate scenes bore me. I have no issue with them, or people who love them, but I'm just more about the banter and getting to know one another these days. But I'm certainly not going to punish a romance that wasn't exactly advertised to be closed door for this.

FWIW, there are moments in those scenes that are interesting in terms of exploration of character, sex positivity, and body positivity -- including, ahem, hair. I absolutely think a lot of people are going to enjoy those scenes. (There's only a couple.)

The book also includes a neurodivergent heroine, maybe 2.

I think my (small) issue is that the characters seemed to lose their way and weren't the Olivia and Pepper *I* fell in love with. They seemed to lose a little of their spark and chemistry. Maybe it's because with the physical intimacy the story needed them to lose some of the original dynamic as Pepper began to trust Opal.

I still had a great time. Opal is pure heart. Pepper's personality really had a dash of pepper. The secondary characters were very likable. The various villains get their just deserts. We get two women in love surrounded by flowers and art.

I'd read more from the author. I'd actually enjoy a mystery from the author! Can our couple solve crimes?

First we saw an autism/adhd - opposites attract with Tilly in Technicolor and I LOVED it. Now we get it with Late Bloomer and I LOVED this one just as much.

Opal is stuck in her "feels like she's always making a mess of things" era - so when she wins 500k from scratch off lottery ticket, she realizes that this is her chance to start fresh & new. She finds an ad for a flower farm and buys it so she can have a calming & beautiful place to create her art.
In comes Pepper who just so happens to live at this flower farm and is struggling to keep the farm afloat.

I'm pretty sure Opal fell first and fell hard, but it didn't take long for Pepper to fall too. I loved being able to read their POV and get two very distinct voices. I loved their chemistry and I loved the relationships between Opal & Pepper and the background/side characters. Even the grandma, I felt like she was very much a real person in the story even though she didn't have her own voice.

Another amazing story from Mazey Eddings and another one that is getting a billion stars (goodreads is lame to max at 5).

HUGE. HUGE. HUGE. HUGE. HUGE thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the widget & ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've never read anything by Mazey Eddings before, but after seeing this beautiful cover and reading so many rave reviews, I knew I needed to give "Late Bloomer" a try! I'm glad I did, as the characters were relatable and I really enjoyed the blossoming romance and flower-related puns!
Even before she wins the lottery and is overwhelmed with people schmoozing her, hoping for a handout, Opal doesn't have any true friends outside of her loyal sisters. Fed up with being taken advantage of, Opal essentially flees to Asheville, North Carolina, home of the flower farm she impulsively purchased with her winnings. However, it turns out that someone is already residing at the farm: Pepper, whose grandmother almost single-handedly made Thistle and Bloom Farms what it is today. The two grudgingly come to a compromise over their living situation, and you can largely predict what transpires from that point on!
I liked this because even though romance books tend to follow a lot of the same patterns and formulas that can make them feel forced or boring, the characters in this felt real. I appreciated the representation of queer, neurodivergent characters, and I could especially relate to a lot of Opal's struggles. Having flowers as a focal point, with all the incredible symbolism, was an added bonus. Solid 4 stars from me!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Mazey Eddings, and NetGalley for this eARC!!

I liked all of Mazey Eddings books that I have read previously and this was no exception. Cute, steamy read and definitely fun plot. I would recommend!

This book was such a delight from start to finish! I fell in love with both Opal and Pepper, watching the way their own anxieties and fears twisted and turned, pulling them apart and putting them back together. The characters were so rich and unique and complicated. It was also so wonderful to see representation of neurodivergent characters as well as amazing representation of female same-sex pleasure and intimacy that felt fun, real, and very sexy!

I will read whatever Mazey Eddings writes!! She beautifully balances swoon, steam and all the feels to create relatable and FUN love stories. I absolutely loved these characters and their tension and tenderness. As always with her novels, the queer + mental health rep is incredibly meaningful. Thank you so much to SMP and Netgalley for my copy.

i'm so happy to report that one of my most anticipated romance reads of spring 2024 was great. 'late bloomer' by mazey eddings follows 24-year-old opal, a down-on-her-luck artist with severe anxiety who suddenly wins $500,000 on a scratch ticket. desperate for a fresh start, she spontaneously buys a flower farm with plans to use the lush landscape to inspire her art. what she didn't count on was the surly, yet very attractive, pepper who currently lives on & operates the farm that used to belong to her late grandmother. deciding to both live on the farm until a solution can be found, opal and pepper very quickly realize that while they might be opposites in almost every way, maybe a desire to save the farm will bring them together in the end.

this was CUTE. nothing i love more than a floral, rural setting. the mental health & neurodiverse representation in this book was great, and the slow burn of the romance felt very real & moved the story along well. i do wish we got to spend more time with some of the side characters (especially opal's two sisters), as they all felt like placeholders whose only function was to push the main romance along, and they could have been more developed. overall, i was really happy with how this story went, and am excited to see if eddings writes any more queer stories in the future.

Late Bloomer is a lovely, heart-warming, romance about two women (!!!) that are stuck together in an A-Frame cabin...I can imagine worse situations to be in. Pepper is stand-offish where Opal is bright and out-going. This book includes well-written neurodivergent representation, flowers, art, grand gestures, and a whole lot of sweet romance. This book is for the cottagecore lesbians...and anyone else who has ever dreamed of winning the lottery and running away to a cabin surrounded by flowers.

This book feels like the answer to what tall, dark and mysterious can be for the lesbians. Pepper is the epitome of a mysterious, grumpy love interest and I feel like I have been just waiting for someone to write this.

I LOVED this book and as a an aside - the cover is beautiful.

Another fantastic book by Mazey Eddings. This one was full of dreamy flowers, and I absolutely loved Opal and Pepper! Way to bring it all together. Opal has three sisters and I’m seriously hoping they’re all getting their own books, too!

Firstly, I would like to thank both netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this amazing book as an ARC.
The first thing to grab my attention about this book was how absolutely gorgeous the cover is. I had never read anything from this author before, but after seeing that it was listed as read now, I decided to give it a chance. Within the first few chapters, I found myself already getting invested in the story and instantly connected with the characters. I loved that this book had split POVS for both of the main characters, as it really gives you a chance to see into both of their heads and understand how they both think.
I loved that there are neurodiverse characters in this book, and finding out that the author is neurodiverse as well after finishing it just made that part of the story feel even more special to me. In the middle of reading this book, I found myself purchasing another one of Mazey Eddings recent releases, because I adored the writing style so much.

Mazey Eddings writes book that make you feel seen in every way. Her characters have so much depth to them and are raw in a way that feels real. This story was pure heart and wholesomeness.

I loved this one, as I do with most anything Mazey writes. The neurodivergent rep was amazing and was really lovely to see as a dual POV. Flower farms & grieving are some of my favorite things (who knew?) and combining that with a sapphic romance really worked. Pepper & Opal need to be protected at all costs.