Book: “Late bloomers” by Mazey Eddings
Rating: 4/5 🌟
Spice: 1.5🌶️

Narration review: such a fantastic job! I love the flow of the book. She did specifically amazing with the fight seen when Pepper gets a visitor while staying at the hotel. The steamy parts were narrated perfectly, slowly and torturously (in a good way, because there’s a fine line between pain and pleasure lol)
I love the extra pause at the end of each chapter. It was unique, and it differentiated the separation between each chapter clearly.

Review: Welcome to the beautiful Ashville NC, where the most beautiful flowers bloom🌸
Our main characters are Opal and Pepper.
IT WAS OPAL’S LUCKY DAY!!! Like any artist, Opal dreams of having her own space to get inspired and make beautiful art, and she finally had her dreams come true. But there’s one little issue….
Pepper is heart broken, and she has been through enough. After what her mom did to her life and her dreams, she was hoping to put the past behind and enjoy living and working on her beautiful flower farm, and then she finds out she might not be able to …

Pepper and Opal need to cohabitate for a short while. Will they murder each other?(trust me, it does come up!!!) Or try to make the best of it? You can find out on April 16, when this beautiful book comes out!

Tropes: forced proximity, grumpy sunshine, one bed, found family, miscommunication, first time
Representation: queer, neurodivergent, bi rep.

Late Bloomer is a vibrant sapphic romcom featuring a hand-me-down farm, too many boxes of hair dye, too little impulse control, more floral symbolism than my brain can comprehend, and two of the most loving, caring, and understanding neurodivergent girls you’ll ever meet. All that to say, it’s practically perfect. I devoured this audiobook so quickly, I didn’t want to stop. It’s soft, it’s bright, it’s genuine, and it’s laugh out loud funny. I already want a dozen more books of these two.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing a copy for advanced review.

Late Bloomers is a forced-proximity, opposites-attract fluffy romance. Opal finds herself buying a failing flower farm after winning the lottery. Pepper finds herself with a new (forced) roommate after the death of her grandmother and sale of the only true home she’s ever known.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and really enjoyed the narrator's voice. Although I typically have to use 2x speed to find the pacing tolerable, I only had to listen to this one at 1.25x (that’s pretty good).

Things I liked

It’s gay.
Obviously, I’m gonna read it if its gay
Opposites Attract (kinda enemies to lovers but without the hatred?)
Sunny vs Grumpy trope
Neurodivergent representation (Autism and undiagnosed ADHD)
The flowers

Things I didn’t like
Pepper’s mom (she’s a dick)
I found the miscommunication between the main characters frustrating
I feel like the opposites attract tension could have had more tension
Could’ve had a stronger plot direction, but I went in knowing it was a fluffy romance and that’s what I got so I can’t complain.

It had ?two? spicy scenes but I usually skip those so don’t look to me for a review on that.

*I received this ARC from NetGally to read and review in exchange for an honest review.*

This book was fine...which I really hate to say because I loved the premise and that there were neurodivergent main characters. The whole time I just kept thinking that no one talks like this. Like every argument, friend encounter, romantic dialogue...it just didn't feel organic. I also thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity to talk about sensory things that might not work in the bedroom. There were plenty of spicy bits and they did have communication about likes and such, but once things got going then they both always liked everything happening. There was the chance to say not this time, or this type of touch is too much today, or just not have a bunch of orgasms every time. Pepper and Opal were both unfortunately just sort of cookie cutter characters and I sometimes would lose who was talking because they were both very similar points of view. They were supportive and understanding of each others neurodivergence which was nice, but I don't really think that ADHD equals disaster. The plot didn't really go anywhere for a while. Which I guess is fine is you want some really low stakes but there was nothing to really compel me to the ending. I just wanted more. I did think that Ellie Gossage was a great narrator. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars!

i listened to this one on audio. i thought it had a unique concept and loved how pepper & opals introduction took place. i thought the way they navigated the situation they were in was interesting. i do felt like certain topics/plotlines in this one felt a bit rushed.

that being said i loved the neurodivergent representation in this one and i loved how both characters could be their true selves around one another. they both felt calmness when the other was around and i think that’s important.

the character growth in this one was so fun. opal felt very young and naive in the beginning but i loved seeing her find her voice and stand up against her mean friends. pepper was untrusting in the beginning due to her past relationship with her mom but it was so refreshing to see her open up her heart to opal.

my favorite part of this big was the love confessions at the end. they were written so beautifully and you could truly understand how much pepper and opal cared about each other. the last chapter of this book will live rent free in my head because seriously such a GREAT love confession scene, it felt so wholesome & so them

Mazey Eddings is an auto-buy author for me. I love her books. Her characters are always very real and three-dimensional, with struggles and quirks and things that make them special and unique. From her debut, I've been a Mazey stan, and Late Bloomer is another wonderful romance delivered with her signature humor and heart.

At the beginning of the story, Opal wins the lottery, which starts a chain of events that culminates in her purchasing, sight-unseen, a flower farm from a stranger on Facebook Marketplace. However, when she shows up ready to move in, she meets Pepper--who has lived at the flower farm since her mom dropped her off with her great aunt as a teenager. They decide to be roommates while they figure out the ownership situation, and sparks fly.

The autism and neurodivergent rep is amazing. Both Opal and Pepper are neurodivergent, and I related to Opal so much, as someone who was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

The audiobook was phenomenal. Ellie Gossage delivers a fantastic performance, making the difference between the two women and their POVs clear and distinct.

Thank you SMP for my advance review copy.

Please note: I am not generally a romance fan, so that definitely impacts my feelings on this book! This was cute and fun, but just not for me. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it; several parts gave me a laugh, and I found the ending satisfying both in terms of the romance and individual character growth. The steamy parts were not at all cringey, though some of the banter and humor was. I had a hard time suspending disbelief over Opal's sweetness and finally just decided to roll with it. There was pretty much instant attraction between Opal and Pepper, so bear that in mind if you have other preferences for romance. Originally my other issue was the power dynamics between the main characters, particularly in terms of money, but this does eventually get addressed. I greatly appreciated the representation of autism and neurodivergence and recognized some of myself/loved ones in the characters. A good choice if you are in the mood for something sweet with a healthy dose of silliness and emotional exploration.

Mazey Eddings has become an auto-buy author for me. I love the way she writes neurodivergent characters and the way they feel so real. This book is no exception.

I thought the premise was very fun and quirky while also hitting on some big feelings such as grief and imposter syndrome.

Opal and Pepper both shined on their own as main characters, but really brought out the best in each other when they were together.

My only complaint is that I feel like the ending was a bit rushed. A lot happens in the last 10-15% and seeing as how the book isn't super long to begin with I just felt like maybe a little more could have been added.

Overall, I would highly recommend this one and I really hope that it will become a new series with each of Opal's sisters also getting their HEA.

Late Bloomer was an enjoyable sapphic romance following Opal and Pepper. This was a lighthearted book set on a flower farm. Overall, I liked this book and rated it 3.5 stars.

I enjoyed the grumpy/sunshine trope. The setting was so beautiful - flowers! There was a sweet author note at the end of this book, discussing what each flower represented in the story. A really lovely touch!

Although this book bordered on a little <i>too</i> sweet and cliché, I still enjoyed this book for what it was: a sweet, flowery romance. I wish there was a bit more tension between Opal and Pepper, but I still enjoyed the spice/romance.

The audiobook was well done. It was an easy listen, which I enjoyed while taking walks. I recommend this book to someone who needs a palate cleanser or a low-conflict romance. There was a little depth, such as discussions around setting boundaries and grief which did help drive the story. There was also autism and ADHD representation.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I say this is a perfect book I mean perfect.
This book makes me mad that I've ever been overly generous with my 5 star ratings because it means there is no way for me to make THIS 5 star stand out among any other 5 star review I've ever written.
Opal and Pepper are perfect main characters. Flawed, loveable, such growth, such struggle, such human perfection. I love every character in this book! Even Trish (who we obviously hate) I would read a whole series on what the fuck she gets up to. What are her motivations? Why did she decide to sell the farm to Opal legally and not through some sketch nonsense like she usually does? Their friends!? give me a break, I loved them all so much.
This was the perfect saphic, cottagecore, cozy romance dream and I want to nuzzle my little face in this book and never ever come up for air.

Edited 3/6 as I received the audio ALC for this book (Thank you NetGalley!) and here this portion of the review is for the audio only.

Originally I was bummed to see that this book which is dual POV only had one narrator but I couldn't have been more wrong. Ellie Gossage does a masterful job switching between the two POVs and the voices are so perfect you believe completely that it's two people. So well done.

I read this book on a e-ARC back in January and I couldn't stop myself from requesting the audio ALC. I'm so glad I did. It was absolutely perfect, just like this book. <3

Original Review:

"𝐅*𝐜𝐤 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 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥.”

This is my second book by Mazey Eddings (I read Tilly in Technicolor first - also loved) and I think she's quickly becoming an auto buy author for me. And now we have Sapphic love on a flower farm!! Sign me up.

Opal has ADHD and she's everything! She's impulsive and loud and bright and funny and creative and all self deprocating. She's plagued by being a full blown people pleaser who lets others walk all over her and never stands up for herself. She finds herself winning the lottery when a fair weather friend randomly gives her a scratch off for her birthday.

With the money she decides to buy a flower farm, and there she plans to start a new life, make a business out of her art, and have a happy life.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐲. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

Pepper, Opal's polar opporiste, is autistic and pessimistic and quiet and reserved and orderly and is living in said flower farm when Opal arrives. The farm she grew up in. The farm that should be hers. The farm that is no longer profitable and falling apart.

Opal, never the one to ruffle feathers, agrees to let Pepper stay while they work things out.

Together they enter into a fragile arrangement, and when one of Pepper's friends suggest they enter this flower art competition for money to save the farm Opal jumps at the chance to use her talents and help.

I was struck with how these two opposites learn to work together, and live together, and eventually fall into each other. Opal is our pusher. She craves people's approval, so she works overtime to make Pepper like her. Pepper is used to her quiet life, and having Opal is like inviting a hurricane into her life and she's drawn to her anyway.

This book is equal parts learning how to navigate a world and communicate with someone completely different than you as well as a book on grief and moving on. It's tender and compassionate and beautiful and sexy and reading about these characters that just truly needed each other to be their whole selves was so perfect.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭—𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞—𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞, 𝐎𝐩𝐚𝐥’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭.

All the stars. I can't wait until this one comes out.

I received this ARC from NetGalley to read and review. All of the statements above are mine.

This started off pretty rough as I found Opal almost unbearable, but once we got into things on the farm it really grew on me (no pun intended). I found the dynamic between Opal and Pepper very charming and they had great chemistry. Ultimately, this book needs more conflict and angst to elevate it, but it was a quick and fluffy read.

I received and eARC of this audiobook from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for my honest review.

Initial Thoughts
This was good but not my favorite from this author. Pepper and Opal were both very interesting characters and I wanted to see good thing happen in their life. The situation that brought them together was a little odd but I decided to just go with it. I enjoyed watching these two find themselves and each other. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrator did a great job with the story.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.

I loved this book! Obviously, the cover is beautiful, but the read itself is absolutely wonderful! It's a slow burn romance book, with Opal and Pepper being the main characters and I oved them! It's definitely sunshine vs grumpy, with Opal being such a breath of fresh air and Pepper being.. the opposite. But opposites attract in this book! I enjoyed watching their relationship blossom into something beautiful, especially given how they started off with this awkward kind of forced roommates living situation. I appreciate the author adding in queer representation, as well as autistic representation and neurodiversity. Great read, with such a beautiful ending!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with another wonderful read!

I need to stop picking up romance books when I know they’re not for me (I love a sapphic relationship, but I need some more plot/worldbuilding/physical movement that the romance genre simply doesn’t give me).

I would burn down the world for Pepper. She felt very familiar and had such a beautiful vulnerability to her. I loved her conversations around grief, around expectations, and especially around her Autism. I liked that she struggled to put words together and would opt for silence or action over saying the wrong thing.

Opal on the other hand didn’t really stick in my head. I didn’t like her views on money (but I guess any 24 year old who wins the lottery would be kinda the same?) and she was just generally harder for me to follow and understand - in a way that made her feel inconsistent, like she was being warped to fuel Pepper’s story.

I also wish we saw more of the ensemble cast, since they really only have one key scene as a group and a handful of paragraphs individually. It makes both Opal and Pepper seem very isolated.

The audiobook narrator also does a fantastic job of really differentiating between the two characters

Thank you MacMillan for the audio copy of Late Bloomer from Mazey Eddings. I am a big fan of this author, I love their writing, focus on diverse experiences with neurodivergence (and making neurodivergence part of someone's identity, what makes them special versus a disorder!), and here a strong focus on inclusive queer relationships. Eddings' books always sing with joy even as they dive into the challenges of neurodiversity and mental health struggles; the characters feel real and their experiences capture real world experiences with identity, family, and growing into one's identity.

Late Bloomer is spicy sapphic romance but it's also a story of creativity and identity, of finding out what passions are and how to pursue them, and a story of love and grief and family/found family. I loved Opal's spirit, her openness to taking risks and to making her life and dreams her own; Pepper's journey to process her grief, her past relationship with her mother, and her love for Thistle and Bloom were written with an authentic caring voice. The secondary characters with Opal's loving sisters and Pepper's genuine friends were really well developed too, adding a richness to themes on family and found family that added depth to the story. I have to admit as well that I loved the setting, a flower farm as a business but also a place of creativity and artistry, I really wanted to be there on the farm with Opal's painting and help Pepper care for her blooms.

And a cheer for the excellent voice narration that made the book come to life, I am glad that Opal and Pepper had their own performances to add that depth to the audiobook.

I wanted to love this book. Sadly, I DNFed it at 47%. I thought it was cheesy, cliche and a bit boring. The writing seemed a touch too YA for my tastes. I'm rating it three stars because, while it wasn't the book for me, it could be the perfect book for someone else.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. And to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

Late Bloomer is a fun romance novel in which you get to watch two people's journey of finding themselves and finding a connection that works for them. By themselves, both Opal and Pepper are very strong women. However, as you peel back the layers you see the reason why they have so many walls up and become who the are. They approach life very differently and learn to adapt to the other person. I love how the author grew these characters. The discovery of their lust for each other didn’t feel forced and I found myself rooting for them the whole book. I like the attention to detail the author did with the flower. Easy to miss if you’re not good at flowers, but fun easter eggs if you know a thing or two about them. I enjoyed this book and would happily put this on my recommendation list for friends.

Opal, my dear, you probably should have spent some of that money on therapy!!!!

Overall: very cute, sweet romance, fairly realistic neurodivergent rep, likeable but messy main characters. A fun read. Definitely good to shut off any part of your brain with financial literacy while reading.

Grateful to NetGalley and McMillan Audio for early access. The audiobook was read by Ellie Gossage, whose reading I found delightful.

I’ve LOVED everything Mazey has ever written…until this one🥲 which makes me SAD! But also not everything can be a win? This might even be a 2.5⭐️

I loove the neurodivergent representation she always has (autism, ADHD in this one), I love that she branched out to write a bi/sapphic romance! But unfortunately that’s where the loves ended…

I often felt bored, the characters were cliched, I couldn’t tell Opal and Pepper’s POVs apart, and I never really cared what was going on so I spaced out a lot🫣 I’m sorry!! I tried!!

I will still shout my loves for the Brush With Love Series till I’m blue in the face though!!!