Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

I have been a fan of Mazey since the first book I read by her and she has continuously wowed me. I often found myself within the characters of her pages especially those that have ADHD. She just always finds ways to make her characters relatable to the average person. And just like with her other books, Edding does such a great job with queer & neurodivergent representation.

This is her first time writing a sapphic novel and I remember when the cover was announced, I knew that it was going to be a smash! Eddings comes up with such a creative way to make you get attached to the characters and their storylines. This story was such a unique one and yes I could suspend reality that someone would actually buy a flower farm in Asheville (which by the way is such a fun town). I love that Opal and Pepper had to work together to win a competition. I love that their relationship was a progression and then when it hit, it hit. One thing Edding knows how to do is write a love scene. She wrote Pepper's inexperience with such grace and Opal was so tender towards her and only wanted her to be comfortable.

This book is told from dual POV and I thought the narrator, Ellie Gossage, did a well enough job to distinguish between the two character and their POV. Would I have loved to have two narrators? Of course it would have added to the listening experience. Her tone & cadence was enjoyable and made the listening very easy & quick.

This was not my favorite Mazey book but I did really enjoyed this & Mazey will continue to be an auto-buy author!

Read this if you enjoy flowers, forced proximity, queer rep all set at a flower farm!

This book was sweet and sappy, but I think that its biggest downfall was the lackluster climax. The smut was good, the characters were good, and the plot was interesting enough. I just can't say I was super invested in it, and I was definitely left wanting for the end.

A very cute romance title. I liked the rural farm setting. The audiobook is well narrated. I recommend this title to anyone wanting to read a cute queer/lesbian romance.

This was easily one of my best reads all year! I reccomend it to everyone. It was so cozy, cute and had me kicking my feet and laughing the whole time, this love story is unmatched 💕 it was my first by this author and absolutely not my last!

I appreciated the spice in this book as well as the representation of autism and neurodivergence. It was great to see the relationship spark between two characters with similar and vastly different experiences. I also appreciated older characters as well. The concept and humor were too cheesy for me.

3.5-4ish stars. This is my favorite Mazey Eddings book so far. I've been in the mood for sapphic contemporaries and this just hit the spot. I love the queer and neurodivergent rep along with the found family aspect. You can tell how much the author enjoyed writing this story and those are my favorite books.

Narration: This was a delightful listen and the narration was wonderful, but my pet peeve continues to be using a single narrator for m/m or f/f romances.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for my copy to review.

A super sweet flower farm queer romance with amazing neurodivergent representation! I loved the chemistry between Opal and Pepper! I normally hate miscommunication tropes but I feel like this book did it in a way that wasn't "oh my god just TALK to each other" frustrating. Can we take a moment to admire the cover too?? Fantastic read!

Thank you Netgalley for the providing a digital ARC.

I DNF'ed this at 51%. The writing didn't quite jive with me and I honestly didn't really like the characters. I finally stopped because I felt like the plot was moving along in a really disjointed way from how I perceived the characters should have acted.

This was such a quick read, I read it all in a night. I loved Opal and Pepper. Their personalities were just so fun and they were so sweet. I definitely loved it and definitely recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. It was light and fluffy, and I loved the neurodivergent rep in both main characters. The grumpy x sunshine vibes were perfect, and both women were well developed characters. All in all, a very fun and cottage core contemporary sapphic romance.

Mazey Eddings is the queen of writing neurodivergent characters. She never fails. I loved the mental health yep and I feel like these characters rang very true.

What didn’t work as well for me here was the love story. I seemed a bit contrived. Also, the whole book is centered around the flowers but there seemed to be no resolution here.

Ellie Gossage did a fabulous job with the narration and I truly got a sense of who the characters were based on her embodiment of them.

Mazey will continue to be an auto read author for me, this one just fell a bit short.

I loved this audio! The narrator did a fantastic job!

I don't often read a lot of sapphic stories, but I am thrilled that I was able to listen to this one. Opal had me cracking up from the get go, and the banter in the story was fantastic!

If you enjoy forced proximity, complicated family dynamics, grumpy sunshine, and neurodiversity representation then definitely give this one a try!

I didn't know what to expect when I opened up Late Bloomer. Honestly, I didn't even realize what was on the cover. Oops! It was a great surprise being able to figure things out along with the characters. Opal wins the lottery and along with it buys a flower farm in North Carolina. It's been failing, but she now has plenty of money to put into it. When she arrives at the farm, someone else is there saying the farm is theirs. Now, you can see where this is going. Enemies to lovers lesbian romance anyone? It was very well written and a good follow up to Mazey Edding's previous novel. I'm interested to see what she puts out next.

Mini synopsis: after a surprise lottery win, Opal buys a flower farm & inherits a grumpy farmer in Pepper. Can they live together or will one be forced to leave?

Look at that stunning cover 😍😍😍 this was my first Mazey Eddings and I enjoyed my time that I’ll check out another book by this author! It was cute & sweet with a little bit of cringe & classic romance tropes. And I don’t mean in a bad way! The romance was cute between Opal & Pepper and I really liked the setup on the flower farm. The slow build and the friendship were my favorite parts. I’m a sucker for a good cast of side characters & this had multiple groups of side characters that I want more of! Pepper’s friend group seemed so fun & welcoming and Opal’s sisters so sweet! I kinda hope we get some companion books with them! I also enjoyed the little bit of flower competition we got glimpses of! But I kinda wish we spent more time there! Also, there were a couple of parts that didn’t work for me. There’s not much going on plot wise & the relationship felt very surface level are my only negatives here!

I enjoyed that both characters were neurodivergent and they didn't shy away from it. This was a cute sapphic read perfect for spring and summer time.

Adorable romantic story! I liked seeing how the dynamics worked with one of the characters having ADHD & one being Autistic.

Amazing . This story was everything I wanted and I absolutely loved the characters!!
Would recommend to anyone who loves a good romance story!

I'll preface this by saying this was my second audiobook. In some ways, I do think listening to this book was a benefit because the author has beautiful prose. The narrator also did a good job of distinguishing the characters except for one scene. That's my first critique, there were too many characters some of which did not get a lot of play in the book. The scene I'm referencing that was hard to listen to has a character we only see in that chapter and then his boyfriend who comes to a party, never to be mentioned again. I know that would've been brought up in book club if I had read this book for one.

I found Pepper to be a more fully formed protagonist than Opal or maybe I just liked her better. Either way, some parts of Opal's character confused me like how she was so forward with sex, but also insecure and shy. I found myself asking, wow, where did that come from. Opal is described as a giver, always doing for others, I was surprised she continued to give so much as the relationship unfolded. I would've imagined it would help with the character arc to see her receive (and not just in the bedroom).

It was a good book and I was a sucker for all the flower puns. My last critique would be the ending. I did love that the third-act breakup was avoided, but when the chapter ended and I heard "epilogue," I was confused. If I had been reading it, I would've gone back to reread before moving on to the epilogue. It surely did have a big HEA.

Many thanks to @macmillan.audio & @netgalley for the #gifted audiobook

#AudiobookReview 🎧📖
Late Bloomer by Mazey Edding
Story: 4✨ Narration: 5✨

🎶 Book Vibe as a Song Lyric: “If beauty is the only way/to make the nightmares go away/I’ll plant a garden in your brain/and let the roots absorb the pain.” -Lucy Dacus, Trust

✍️ Favorite Quotes:

“I spent most of my life desperately searching for friends and closeness and companionship, always serving as people’s back up plan, a good time in small doses, ready and eager like a puppy to jump at anything I was lucky enough to be included in, then doing everything possible to ensure the people around me had a good time, even if it left me spent and empty.”

“‘I can promise you,’ she says voice soft, like a rose petal, ‘as someone with little to no natural instinct on what is socially acceptable in conversations, nothing feels like an over-share.’”

What I Loved:
🧠: The autism, ADHD, & AuDHD rep; formal and self-diagnosed (both are valid)

🎙️ Stellar narration by @elliegossage

💐The beautiful setting of a North Carolinian flower farm

⛈️/☀️ Grumpy/Sunshine Romance

🔥 Sapphic Steaminess w/ sexy consent

💁🏼‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️Opal and Pepper are such endearing characters

💔 Pepper’s grief is so real and true.

Loved and Hated:
😭 The mistreatment by Pepper’s mom, Opal’s “friend” and her ex hit me so hard. Myself and every autistic person I know has had similar experiences and it’s heartbreaking.

Not My Favorite:
🫂 I wanted more of Pepper’s pal Deitcha and Opal’s sisters and the wonderful support and insight they provided.

🖋️Writing/wording…
At least twice Opal uses whiskey metaphors. As somebody who has also given up drinking and gotten sober for my well-being like Opal did - I don’t romanticize alcohol anymore and it felt very unlikely Opal would still view booze so affectionately.

The word “fisted” (no, not in *that* way…), the author had the women “fisting” each other’s hair, fisting each other’s clothes etc. frequently and it was…not my favorite word choice, I get she meant “she grabbed a fist full of my shirt,” but “fisted” ain’t it.

🧠 Love the Migraine rep, but most of us don’t only have one/season or one/year.

🗣️ Heavy on the miscommunication and “just TALK to each other!” vibe

📕 Overall:
A swoony, authentically neurospicy, queer, v emotional, funny, flower-filled delight: highly recommend.

⚠️TWs/CWs include: grief, loss of grandmother/guardian, unhealthy relationship with alcohol, drug use, parental abandonment, homophobia, outing, alcohol use, graphic sexual content, graphic language/swearing - like, if the seeing/hearing: “cuntasuarus” is gonna bug ya, this might not be your book…, bullying, manipulation, gaslighting, emotional and verbal abuse, and mother/daughter estrangement.

This book was emotional and deep and so real! We love a neurodiverse main character and the fact that this take place on a flower farm is just dreamy! Who doesn't want to quit their day job and open up a flower farm in Asheville? GOALS!