I am a fan of some of Mazey Eddings previous books, so I was really looking forward to devouring Late Bloomer. An opposites-attracts, sapphic romance? Sign me up! Unfortunately, this didn't really hit the mark for me. While I initially like the premise (and I know that you need to suspend disbelief for fiction), the idea that Opal would buy a farm without seeing it on Facebook marketplace is hilarious and completely threw me off. The moments that Opal and Pepper spent working together to improve the farm and slowly getting to know each other were sweet. However, it wasn't enough to save how stagnant both the plot and the character development felt.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mazey Eddings is a fantastic writer! This story completely captivated my attention and did not let go. It's such a heartwarming story that will pull you in from the start.

Recommended!!

This Pride Month, I really have wanted to read more sapphic stories. I was eager to dive into this one. Opal starting over and falling in love in the process? I was ready to devour it, but I do think it fell a little short for me.

I really did like the setup for Opal. Her being a major people pleaser and determined to change that was a great introduction. She is so cheery, and I really did love her personality and how it contrasted with Pepper's. Their contrast created some moments that I did enjoy.

At some point, the whole story fell apart for me a little. The chemistry between Opal and Pepper didn't feel as solid for me as I thought it might. It felt like their relationship took a sideline for the plot, which led to me feeling like they weren't really developed as well as their relationship.

Overall, this was cute. I just needed more from the romance to really love this. As my first Eddings book, it did give me an insight into her writing, and I will dive into more of her work.

Pride Month 2025 #4

🍦 🍓 The Ripped Bodice's 9th Annual Summer Romance Bingo 🕶️ 🏄🏼

/ Punny Title

I don't think Mazey is for me. I didn't love THE PLUS ONE. I kind of hated this.

Opal is annoying, flighty, and honestly kind of dumb. It's giving air sun sign. I smell an unevolved Libra.

Pepper, whose name is even worse than Opal's, is uptight, anxious, and kind of mean to her friends. I honestly don't even know how she has friends.

Her mom sells her dead grandmother's floral farm to Opal. Somehow, Opal has won the lottery. This is what she chooses to do with her money. Does she know what a flower farm entails? Certainly not.

They don't like each other. They're attracted to each other. They fuck. They date. It excited some of you more than it excited me, so don't let me stop you. But I won't be requesting another Mazey novel.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin

Opal is a chronic people pleaser. She can’t help herself; she doesn’t think people will like her if she’s not doing things for them. But, at her sisters’ encouragement, she uses the money she wins from a scratcher (yes, she really does) to buy a flower farm. For herself, and no one else.

She couldn’t know about Pepper - the granddaughter of the flower farm owner who is suffering a devastating loss and trying to find a way to keep the flower farm afloat. So when Opal arrives on Pepper’s doorstep claiming to own the place, the two are hesitant of each other but come to a compromise that means they both stay at the flower farm and work together to keep it running.

Opal and Pepper are such a good pair. They both struggle to believe they deserve love unconditionally, yet have no problem giving unconditional love freely to each other. It’s a beautiful thing to watch them learn to trust each other and fall in love. Not to mention a vibrant cast of supporting characters that make appearances at just the right time.

The main thing keeping me from handing out five stars (like I love to do for Mazey Eddings) was the writing of the internal monologues. A lot of explanations felt clunky or awkward and included one of my least favorite moments: a character having a romantic thought about another and immediately going “wait, where did that come from?!” It always takes me out of the story. I will readily admit this bothers me more than most, so that’s why it affected me so much!

Other than that, Late Bloomer is a lovely story showing us there is strength in love, vulnerability, and softness.

**Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

Loved the interplay between the lead characters. It totally sucked me into the storyline and I enjoyed the read so much I forgot about everything else around me!

Late Bloomer was a sweet sapphic romance set on a flower farm. I don’t think I would buy a flower farm if I won the lottery, but it sounds like a nice place to live. I enjoyed this book but not as much I had hoped. My biggest issue was that there were so many (a bit too many) sex scenes, but Opal and Pepper didn’t have any real chemistry. I loved that the author included a section about the symbolic meanings for the flowers in the book. Overall, I thought this was a cute book.

this book is a fun and light read perfect for the spring. We meet two characters, Opal and Pepper, both are going through a very hard time in their lives and certain circumstances on life bring them together. now, while living under the same roof and starting on their left foot they have to make things work. It was so nice reading how they started liking each other and finally finding common ground.

This book was emotional and funny. Opal’s choice to purchase a flower farm on a whim is bold, but fueled by uncertainty and self-doubt. Which is a great introduction to Opal’s personality- a lot of big swings that are accompanied by fear/uncertainty. Pepper is more relatable to me, as a geriatric millennial reader. Stoic and just trying to push through after lots of unexpected, unwanted changes. Overall this was a great book but I didn’t feel like I was the intended audience. I’m not a Swiftie, I can’t imagine spending lottery money on something other than bills and creating a safety net, etc. The writing was beautiful, the characters were unique- I just didn’t connect with the characters or their situations.

I love love love Mazey Eddings but this one just didn’t work for me. I could not connect to the characters at all which was really disappointing but I think it still has a lot of Mazey’s signature charm in it.

I really enjoyed this one!! I thought Opal was cute and funny and she was crazy for some of her decisions, but I loved it! I wish there was a little bit more tension and building of the romance. I do really love this author and I love her writing style so I’m excited for the next release!

With an equal measure of hilarious and heartfelt moments, Late Bloomer manages to stand out in the increasingly saturated lesbian romance genre. I loved the characters, the setting, and the set up of Late Bloomer. I had a hard time putting this one down. Somehow, reading this, I felt seen.
I’d highly recommend this to any lesbian romance fan looking for a breath of fresh air.

Note that this was more of a 3.75 star rating rather than 4 stars.

I will honestly review a sapphic book higher than other books within the genre as a general rule, so I was in it for the vibes for this one. Other than that, I found the third act break up to be really dramatic and annoying which honestly took my star rating from the 5 star I was going to give it for cute vibes to the 3.75 range.

I just finished Late Bloomer and had to say how much I truly enjoyed it. The themes of growth, healing, and mental health with such tenderness and authenticity really struck a chord with me. The characters felt so real—flawed, vulnerable, and ultimately hopeful—and I found myself rooting for them the whole way through. The slow-burn romance was beautifully done, and though the pacing dipped a bit in parts, the emotional payoff more than made up for it.

This was fine. At the halfway point I found myself wanting to speed through the ending though. It just felt like there wasn't enough character development or plot.

this may be my favorite mazy eddings book to date! i simply adore a sapphic romance and this one had everything you could ever want in one. I loved all the rep (autism, adhd, anxiety, migraine etc) I adored the flower farm setting, something about it was cute and whimsical, Opal and Pepper were such fun characters I really enjoyed watching them grow (hehe) together and their chemistry was truly undeniable. The third act conflict was a bit much for my liking but i LOVED the epilogue it was so incredibly sweet.

Mazey is one of my favorite authors, so I was very excited for this book going into it. While I did enjoy the story overall, it was not my favorite of her books. Personally it felt like something was missing, but I cannot put my finger on what it was. I still loved her writing style and would recommend this book to other people.

4.25 stars. This book was so good! I enjoyed every minute of it. The characters were well developed and I loved seeing them interact and their relationship grow. Definitely recommending this to EVERYONE

ugh, I LOVE Mazey Eddings. Her writing and the plot lines she creates are absolutely AMAZING. Opal and Peppers relationship was inspiring, their dynamic was perfect. I loved how they both grew into themselves and stopped self-sabotaging, allowing themselves to be happy. I can't wait to see what Mazey does next. I hope everyone reads this asap!!!

Late Bloomer begins with Opal winning the lottery. What would seem like a life-changing miracle, it is only a nightmare for Opal, who struggles with pleasing the people around her and self-sabotaging her chances. She impulsively decides to buy a flower farm and move away to a small town.

What she didn't expect to find in the driveway was Pepper, who claims to be the rightful owner of the farm. Together, they will have to work out what to do about the farm.

I always find it a jarring experience to read about a character (or characters) that share similar traits with me. I also struggle with people pleasing and I could understand what Opal was going through, but I was more naive than her. It's the odd moment of "wait, it's not just me" and feeling recognize. I also felt seen with Pepper's anxiety and her social battery.

Opal and Pepper were very loveable and I was so happy to read their story. I did get frustrated at times with their problems, but I understand where they were coming from (and I know I have my own share of issues). When you like someone, even if they are a fictional character, you are rooting for everything to go well for them, even if it doesn't produce an interesting story.

I think the book needed more moments where we can see them falling for each other, I think that would have been lovely to have.

We all deserve to read amazing romances, I suggest you pick this up.