Omg this sapphic romance was everything it was funny, light, fluffy and truly amazing. I really felt like I was in Opal and Pepper’s head I related so much with the characters. I related so much with Pepper’s need for routine and Opal’s overthinking, want to get her life together. Opal gives golden retriever sunshine and Pepper gives grumpy black cat energy. I loved the forced proximity and the farm vibes. I loved how the characters helped each other. I loved the descriptive writing the way Pepper explained Opal like a blooming flower 🌺😭🥹. I loved the autism representation with Peppers character. The sexual tension in this book was so hot I felt the temperature of the room change 👀❤️‍🔥. This book was so good I ate it up.

Late Bloomer is a contemporary sapphic romance featuring two neurodivergent MCs. One wins the lottery and buys a flower farm from the other's swindling parent. They decide to both stay at the farm at least until they figure out what's gone on and what they should do about it.

Everything about the set up of this novel sounds great: sapphic leads, neurdivergence, flower farm, romance etc. Unfortunately the execution did not work very well for me.

I found the text constricting in a very odd way. I felt like there was a flattening of importance and all items, from major emotions to getting coffee in the morning, were given the same weight. It was exhausting. I also could not maintain my suspension of disbelief. The trade offs of one character having a freak out and then the other felt both random and extreme. I understand that people are complicated, but I couldn't follow these ups and downs as believable and the repetition didn't help. I liked the characters, but I suspect what I really like is the idea of the characters. The dialogue also read as unrealistic to me. I just couldn't get around all of it to enjoy myself.

To bring up a cliche, this is a 'show, don't tell' nightmare. Acres and acres of internal monologuing about the way their own brain works.

I also thought the narrator's performance was stilted. Throughout the experience, I could not decide if I thought the prose was hindering the performance or vice versa. In the end, I think it was both.

Mazey Eddings is one of my favorite authors so I was thrilled to receive advanced copies of her latest release! Just like her previous books, the mental health representation was one of my favorite parts of the book! This was a delightful opposites attract romance; I fell in love with both characters immediately, especially Opal who was sunshine personified and thought they had great chemistry! I also loved that it took place on a flower farm! Overall, it was hopeful, emotional and endearing!

Wow! I had read the summary for this book and was super interested in reading it, so I'm glad I got the chance to listen to the audio book. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Net galley for an advanced copy of the audio book in exchange for an honest review.
Opal is a people-pleaser who seems to have the worst luck possible, in friends and relationships. When she suddenly hits the lottery for 500k, she decides to make a change for herself and buys a flower farm. The only problem? Someone already lives on the farm, and the farm itself is close to closing down. So much for a fresh start!
I really loved the dynamic between Pepper and Opal. They're beautifully fleshed out characters that I enjoyed learning about seperately and together. I could really relate to the themes of grief covered in the book, and really respect the representation both in neurodiversity and sexuality represented in this book. I'm used to reading a lot of WLW romance novels where one of the leads is in denial about her sexuality, so it was really refreshing that both women were open and confident about theirs, it left a lot of time for more unspoken feelings/yearning, which I'm a sucker for.
I really enjoyed every second of this book, and would love somehow to read a sequel to it one day, if not a story about Opal's sisters in a series-style. I really enjoyed all of these characters and was sad to part with them. Also, I loved the narrator! She gave each lead a voice that really suited them.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for giving me access to this audiobook.

These two are so freaking lovable, together or separate. I loved every second of this! It is one I will buy.

The narrator did an excellent job of bringing our sunshine Opal and the gravely Pepper to life.


Amazon review has not been approved yet posted my profile.

The PERFECT Sapphic romance!

I often hate books that take place in North Carolina because they don't make sense geographically. I grew up in Asheville and was TERRIFIED when the book moved there after a lottery winning artist bought a flower farm from the estranged mother of the woman running the flower farm. The romance was perfect and lovely. I even listened to the book AFTER reading the whole thing, I enjoyed it that much.

I recommend giving this a chance. It is wonderful!

The narration is also great!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for the ARC.

3 ⭐️

It's okay.

There's nothing wrong with the book at all. The characters are fine, the romance is fine, and the subplot is fine, but unfortunately, there's nothing special about it either.

It also didn't help that I'm kinda tired of reading about sad people second-guessing/freaking out about any sign of positive affection in romance novels.

"Late Bloomer" by Mazey Eddings is a heartwarming tale of self-discovery and embracing one's own pace in life. A delightful read!

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings was an adorable sapphic romance about Opal who wins the lottery and buys an old flower farm off of Facebook Marketplace only to discover that Pepper is already living there. The neurodivergent representation in this book was really amazing. I felt like especially Opal's ADHD was written more authentically than most stories I have seen. This book had a lot of depth touching on mental health, anxiety, grief, and abuse whilst never straying from it's upbeat & happy vibes. Overall, it was a super fun read. My only complaint is that I would have like a little bit more time spent in the conclusion, but that could be partly because I didn't want to leave their story.

The audiobook did a fantastic job in giving both Opal and Pepper unique & recognizable voices, especially since the chapters often alternated narrators.

Thanks to Net Galley, Mazey Eddings, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this Advanced Audiobook!

I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Can I just start by saying the cover is SO cute!?
I've found there to be a shortage of well-written sapphic romances, so I was SO VERY excited to get the opportunity to read / listen to this.

The two MCs are ... just so amazing. Their characteristics and dynamics are fabulous.
The storybuilding here was brilliant. The side characters were also great!

To put it simply, I enjoyed everything about this book. Truly. And i cannot wait to read more by this author.

Thank you to @NetGalley for letting me listen to the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I love the different representations of characters, ASD, nuerodivergant, and variety of sexual orentations. The main characters had unique backstories which was fantastic. However the plot was so slow without much happening other than different varieties of miscommunication. I wish there was more depth to the plot and overall more to the story.

What a delightful unexpected romance. Finding happiness in rubble of their lives. Both Opal and and Pepper were at points of their lives where they were lost and a little broken. Finding peace, love, and acceptance is a journey worth listening too.

It took me a bit more to get into this one compared to the rest of Mazey's books. I love love love the cover, but it ended up being the best part of the book for me. I did love the flowers, but I just struggled with the main couple.
I did find that the audiobook helped me to keep going in the story. Ellie Gossage did a wonderful job with the narration and I would absolutely listen to another book read by her.

<b><i>"Sometimes I hate myself, I hate my meekness and my boldness, my fear and my audacity to try. Sometimes the hate digs its roots in so deep it feels like it </i>is<i> me. I </i>hate<i> that hate. I have endless grace for everyone in the world but, none for myself."</i></b>

I felt this so much. So many people have struggled with loving themselves and this quote just really resonated with me. This is a story about two young women who struggle with feeling they deserve love. I truly fell in love with these characters, their lives, and their faults. Both FMC are so relatable, but each in different ways because they really are so opposite.
This book is a reminder to love yourself and that you deserve to be loved.💖

To be completely honest, I was a <i>little</i> skeptical of this book in the beginning. Opal was <i>so</i> naive, and I felt like buying the farm was totally unrealistic and not believable. This is just about the only negative thing I need to say about this, and really it makes sense once you get to know her character lol.

If you enjoy queer romance, close proximity, strangers to lovers, friends with benefits, flowers, gardening (this one got me), imperfect characters, neurodivergent characters, and just good people - this one is for you :)

Audiobook: Literally incredible. I listened at 1.75x speed. Ellie Gossage has done an impeccable job with this one. Both characters truly feel like they are independent of once another, I love the voices she has for Opal and Pepper. I have nothing negative to say about this one. 10⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this audiobook, read by Ellie Gossage, and published by MacMillan Audio

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook!
While this book was not something I would typically read, I did enjoy it! The writing was good, and I liked the narrator. If you are someone who enjoys nice romance books/audiobooks, then this would be perfect!
Thank you again for the early access to Late Bloomer!

I know this book will find the right audience, I just happened to be the wrong one for it. I feel much older than I thought as their love story evolved. The tone of the book is aimed at younger generations. Not a YA, but just cracking the teens to 20s feels. The newness of love, finding self, finding your niche, it was hard for me to get into this book because those roads were long ago for me and I couldn't quite attach to their journey. And their journey? Was a bit tepid. Steamy scenes? Hot, but the development of their relationship as they sort through life separately and then together fell a bit... flat?

It is a cute read, a great performance by the narrator- enjoyed the nuanced voice changes for each character, and love a neurodivergent MC as I am 100% on that same brainwave. Bear in mind it's a younger love story and try it on for size for a sweet, light footed HEA.

This book admittedly let me down. I wanted to love it so much, and I was so so excited when I gained access to the audiobook. The narrator, Ellie Gossage, is incredible and does a fabulous job of alternating between all the different characters, so props to her! However, I had some serious issues with the book, and they didn’t get better as the story progressed.

The novel builds up this sense of sexual tension that is supposed to burn between Opal and Pepper, but it reads as no connection beyond the physical. I didn’t know why they were interested in each other besides sexual attraction, and that felt pretty flat. The characters didn’t really have anything in common barring their neurodivergence, self-loathing, and inability to communicate, and what am I supposed to do with that? Plus, these issues of communication continued throughout the book, and only fully resolved itself at around the 94% mark of the book, which feels FAR too late in the game to be learning to speak to each other honestly.

Moreover, the discussion of neurodivergence was really disappointing. I appreciated the author’s attempt to normalize and show the diversity of what neurodivergence looks like, and differentiating between the often-conflated ADHD and autism. But, as a few other reviews note, the constant framing of both characters as “walking disasters” (a direct quote from Opal, referring to herself) who cannot get their shit together or be successful, open, or loved, played into stereotypes implicitly that I found incredibly damaging. This is completely separate from the characterization of the protagonists beyond their neurodivergent characteristics: I found them to be gullible (Opal), far too closed off and borderline rude (Pepper), and pretty weak-willed for the majority of the story (kinda both of ‘em). I wanted more from both of their personalities, and didn’t get much growth beyond them just learning to say “I love you” to one another.

Overall, this was a bit of a letdown, and I give it 2.5⭐, rounded to 3 on Goodreads.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I found the two characters to be really developed. Loved the representation. I hated the third act break up because it really wasn’t necessary at all. It just made both characters be extremely annoying for absolutely no reason.

Thanks to Saint Martin’s Press for providing me with an audio ARC for this book. I will not be posting a detailed review of this book until they address the petition from Readers for Accountability. Islamophobia should not be tolerated and they need to openly discuss safeguards that they have in place to protect marginalized voices.

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/speak-up-st-martins-press

🌸🌻🌷🌸🌻🌷🌸🌻🌷🌸🌻🌷
♡ ᴀʀᴄ ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ♡
ʟᴀᴛᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴍᴇʀ
ᴍᴀᴢᴇʏ ᴇᴅᴅɪɴɢs
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

•sᴀᴘᴘʜɪᴄ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
•ɢʀᴜᴍᴘʏ x sᴜɴsʜɪɴᴇ
•ғᴏʀᴄᴇᴅ ᴘʀᴏxɪᴍɪᴛʏ
•sᴍᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏᴡɴ sʟᴏᴡ ʙᴜʀɴ

Happy release week to this beauty! Read / listen if you enjoy cheesy (yet funny) banter with lots of pop culture references and disability rep 👏🏼 The attraction was fantastic and the characters were very unique, along with the plot as it unfolded. It was a cozy hug in a book for sure, way more emotional than I was originally expecting.

Some of the character development felt off to me. How does a character instantly go from being a meek pushover to an outgoing alpha who says what she wants? Anyways, it was a cute listen that I still recommend.

🌸🌻🌷✨🌻🌷🌸🌻🌷🌸🌻🌷🌸