What a delightful read! It’s light, fun, and utterly charming, making me smile, laugh, and even gasp several times! Between the endearing small-town setting, the hilarious grumpy x sunshine dynamic, the delicious forced proximity, and a perfectly paced slow burn, I was completely hooked! The neurodivergent representation of the two main characters is beautifully done, and the touch of angst in certain scenes added an emotional depth that really moved me. The engaging writing, brisk pacing, and short chapters made it impossible to put down—I devoured it in less than a day without any moments of boredom or heaviness. I truly can’t say enough good things!

The setting of Thistle and Bloom Farms is stunning—a farm surrounded by fields of vibrant flowers, nestled in the peaceful embrace of nature, far from the hustle and bustle. The vivid descriptions of this picturesque landscape were incredibly cozy and captivating.

Opal and Pepper, the two protagonists with their alternating first-person perspectives, completely won me over! They’re complex, full of doubts and fears, and I became deeply attached to them. The romance, with all the tropes I mentioned above, was beautifully developed. I found myself rooting for them as they cautiously navigated their feelings for each other. Their interactions were tender and sizzling, the chemistry was undeniable, and the spicy moments were really well done! I adored them, and the secondary characters were also wonderfully fleshed out and likable.

Overall, "Late Bloomer" is an adorable, fun, and cozy romance that I thoroughly enjoyed!

An enemies to lovers romance about a woman who buys a failing flower farm after she wins the lottery.

I think it too long to really get to the chemistry between Opal and Pepper here. Normally for enemies to lovers, you want that zing between them early so that their feuding feels worthwhile. I just didn't get that enough here so I wasn't cheering for them to get together!

After a long string of abuses due to her winning the lottery, Opal decides she needs a huge change of pace...so she impulsively purchases a farm on Facebook Marketplace. She's flummoxed to find the ornery Pepper living there when she arrives. Opal and Pepper decide they can cohabitate for the time being: Opal can use an outbuilding as her art studio for her sneaker-painting business while Pepper continues to cultivate the land and her beautiful flower farm. Tension rises and it isn't long before their distaste for one another turns into lust. This is a swoony enemy to lovers story that is totally immersive. Absolutely lovable characters with history and hope.

This book is so adorable. Good sapphic romance is do hard to come by. Not just that, this is like a cozy rom com with neurodivergent representation. I loved it.

Thank you to Griffin Press for the arc, it didn't affect my opinion

I am soooo picky when it comes to sapphic romance and this one did not pass my standards. A lot of the conflict felt melodramatic and unnecessary and I just didn't feel the chemistry between Pepper and Opal.

Mazey edding's stories are some of my favorites. they always hit the spot. I loved this book. its not my favorite from her but what a sweet lesbian romance.

Fuck anything and anyone that made you have to survive instead of live. You deserve a life so peaceful it feels deliciously boring. A life filled with flowers and sunny days and people who show you all the time that you’re valued and worthy. You deserve it all.”

– Late Bloomer
Mazey Eddings

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

It was a charming and cozy read. I would recommend it. I just wished it focused more on the character development and less on the intimate scenes. Mazey Eddings is an auto buy author for me. I love her neurodivergent representation in her books.

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings had well-developed characters and a plot that was original and engaging. This book was a wonderful read. I highly recommend!

**Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions expressed are voluntary and my own.**

This was a delightful sapphic romance! It was endearing and I loved the representation of a relationship with one autistic partner and an ADHD partner, and while that pairing can be difficult you're also able to give each other grace.

While Opal may start as a doormat, it's lovely to see her bloom and grow from that because of the relationship she and Pepper have. They may be initially at odds, but they grow to understand and support one another as tentative friends while slowly they grow to love one another. The pining on Pepper's side is exquisite.

The thing about Late Bloomer is that I was perfectly content around halfway through, and I didn't really feel the need to go through the third act drama. I was happy, they were happy, and so I put the book down and wandered away from it for awhile. This does speaking to the pacing of the book, but it also speaks to the characters. I loved them, and wanted the best for them, and there was little else drawing me forward once that urgency was gone.

What a lovely book! Mazey Eddings is an auto-buy author for me, and I was not disappointed with her latest. I definitely would not have made the same decisions as Opal and Pepper at any point in this book HAHA, but their story was impossible to put down. Can't wait for Mazey's next.

I dnf'd this, it just didn't capture my attention the way I wanted it to. I really valued the representation for chronic illness and neurospiciness. I may be burned out of fluffy romantic comedies so take my review with a grain of salt and still give this a try.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and St Martin's for the ARC.

(3.5 / 5.0) I really enjoy this author and the way she builds characters, and am in love with this beautiful cover art. I didn't fall head over heels for this plotline, but I was entertained and having a good time reading along the way. I think this book would work for anyone who loves a forced proximity situation where you kinda have to suspend reality to believe the proximity would ever happen, twenty-something coming of age mixed with romance, LBGTQIA representation (yay!), and some witty humor along the way. I think I fell in love with the characters themselves, but not the love story. All-in-all, a solid romantic read with spice woven in.

Side note - I live in Asheville, where the story is set and where the author lives, and it's cool to see local authors making it!

I am so happy there are more and more sapphic romances coming out and being published! I am a sucker for forced proximity, so I enjoyed that about this book! I also really enjoyed getting to know Pepper and Opal. These two were just such a fun match and had such a good backstories. I also enjoyed the side characters as well! This one was just a good time, and I'm glad I read it!

I'm withholding my review of Late Bloomer in solidarity with the #SpeakUpSMP boycott. Please visit https://r4acollective.org/about/ for more information.

Late Bloomer was such a fun, sweet, sapphic romance. It was witty and charming, and overall lovely to see how Pepper and Opal worked through their issues. The chemistry wasn't always believable, and the pacing was sometimes a bit off but I really enjoyed this one.

Late Bloomer is such a fun sapphic rom-com! I loved the author's notes, especially the one about all the flowers in the book and their meanings.

This was a very sweet Sapphic contemporary romance with a bit of an unlikely premise: one main character wins a modest sum from the lottery, enough to buy the flower farm that the other main character lives on and runs. The two are at odds at first but have to work together for the success of the farm and to help one another with their strange situation, which leads of course to romance. I liked the cute dynamic between the two main characters, and I'm interested in the potential spinoffs within this world with the many side characters (one heroine's cute friend group and the other's entertaining sisters). I also liked that the book dealt with heavier topics like toxic relationships, both romantic and familial, and how to deal with these situations to protect one's mental health.

I received an eARC of Late Bloomer from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. What can I say about this book? I loved it so much I read it in under 48 hours! This books made me feel all the feels. And as someone with metal illness and a child whom is Autistic, I related with Pepper and Opal so mush. As well as being bi! One of my tops books of 2024

I really wanted to like this book. The cover is gorgeous, and the title is fun. However, I never became invested in the characters enough to care about their romance or their conflict.