Gahhh this book was fantastic!! I was instantly in love with the cover and I was loving the story line. Definitely one of my top reads of the year and one of the best Sapphic reads ever! The story line and the realness of these characters dealing with who they are and how they have to figure out how to live together. Forced Proximity on a flower farm?! Yes please!!

Let me start by saying that this is one of the most gorgeous, eye-catching covers I've seen all year. That said, the story itself didn't fully live up to expectations.

I liked the two characters, the story line and the back and forth perspectives. However, I didn't like how Opal was written one way in her chapters, but came across completely differently in Pepper's chapters. It threw me off and left me confused. However, I did love the setting and the flowers and just really the heart of the story. It was gorgeous, just like the cover.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really struggled with this one, which is a major let down after really enjoying some of Eddings' other works.

This was a great book. I really enjoyed reading it and read it in one day! I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this e-ARC! I do my reviews on my social media platforms. I am currently working on getting through my reviews so stay tuned! Leaving a rating as a placeholder for me and to not effect the books rating in order to post this. Thanks again!

This was such an incredible sapphic romance. Once again, I fell in love with characters that were written by Mazey, as if I hadn't already seen it coming. Opal and Pepper's journeys were full of growth and I loved being able to follow along with them. This was such a sweet romance, and I could not get enough of the flowers! Probably my favorite bits of the story!

I felt like this book was off to a great start, talking about our awkward stages or mistakes we all can make.
The mental health talk was relatable.
Talk about relatable, "my dominant personality trait is pleasing others".
Opals friend Laney seems totally awful, glad Opal's sisters agree.
I enjoyed the representation in this book (bisexual, and neurodivergent rep.).
I found myself feeling for Opal, cheering for her. She wanted to find herself and distance herself from the unreal friends. And then when everyone thought she made a mistake buying the property with her winnings.
Then Pepper was introduced, and I felt for her, too. (Peppers friends on the other hand, seemed too cool)
Peppers unwillingness to love mornings hits close to home. Lol
I find myself admiring Opals can do, positive attitude. I also admired her quirkiness and ability to be herself. I love her absolute honesty at all times, that resulted in a bit of awkwardness.
I did feel like the story could be moving a bit faster at times. And there were times where, although I felt like the characters were different enough, their similarities were SO similar that it was hard to tell who's perspective I was listening to and found a friend of mine agreeing.
A total grumpy sunshine romance. ("I’m not sure the exact moment we switched roles, but Opal’s grumpiness makes it feel like sunshine is radiating through my veins.”)
I love how this book progressed, but something about it wasn't in my top books for the year. I would say Id give it 3.5 stars.

An easy 4⭐️ for this sapphic romance!

This story is about Opal, an artist who wins the lottery and buys a flower farm to escape her floundering life and have room to let her creativity flourish, and Pepper the owner of the farm who didn’t know it was for sale!

Pepper and Opal were so chaotic, tender, and whimsical together- I loved it! Both characters are neurodivergent (the rep was amazing!), one character had chronic migraines, one character was Bi and the other was queer.. needless to say the rep in this story was A+ and all was handled exceptionally well in my opinion! Books like this make my heart swell, the feminism is always top notch, the communication and space holding makes me smile, and the side characters shine bright like the little found family they are!

Read this if you like:
-forced proximity
-opposites attract
-sapphic romance, bi + queer pairing
-neurodivergent rep
-migraine rep
-let’s just bang one out
-flower farm settings
-competition plots
-complicated mother/daughter interactions
-winning the lottery

All in all I really had fun with this one! If you get a chance to listen to the audio DO IT! The performance was FANTASTIC!

DNF at 26%

The characters weren't really working for me, especially Opal. She came off really annoying and kinda a doormat. The dialogue also felt incredibly cheesy between the two main characters. Some of the phrases didn't come off like normal people talking, more of a caricature.

This is a lesbian romance and I was really excited for it. But unfortunately didn't work for me. This would be perfect for anyone who is looking for a lesbian romance and doesnt really mind stilted banter.

I’ve loved every single book I’ve read by Mazey Eddings, and this book is no exception! This was a sweet quick read that made me feel like spring was here and not only was the story fun and unique, the characters and their journeys were amazing! I really liked Opal and Pepper, and I loved both of their character journey and growth! This book had such an original concept and it was such a fun read! I loved all the diversity that was represented in this book! Overall, a sweet romance that’s filled with all the flowers you can possibly imagine and a sweet budding romance between two FMC that you won’t want to put down!

4⭐️

I love all of Mazey's books and this one was a special ode to the ambiguities of neurodivergence and queerness. What I loved most about this book was that Opal did not need to define her neurodivergence with a final diagnosis, she was content and felt accepted into the neurodiverse community with being "neurodiverse." Pepper, similarly, did not need to define her queerness to find her own happy ending. Her queer friends supported her not needing to define her queerness other than "queer" itself. This viewpoint is so refreshing to see in romance and I hope to see it more in future book across the genre.
Along with this, I loved the setting of a flower farm and chaos that ensues after Opal wins the lottery and finds herself in a forced proximity situation with Pepper. This world was so lovely and I was so excited to see an easter egg to Mazey's sophomore novel, Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake. This was another fantastic book from Mazey and I will highly recommend this to others!

This story was cute, fluffy, and an easy read, but it was also a bit forgettable. I enjoyed the atmosphere and wished I could be on a flower farm in the mountains. I thought the the romance was fine… but yeah I’m struggling with the romance and found the characters a bit annoying. I'd still recommend it to some friends who I think would appreciate a story like this, especially those who love reading YA

I tried reading this one - I really did but my god the MCs are so annoying. Especially the first one we are introduced too. The "oh my ex is talking to me and thinking about me" dude he was clearly cheating on you with your coworker AND he only is thinking about you now cause you won the lottery.

What garbage.

Rating: 2 ⭐️ | Spice: 2 🌶️

🤍 Only One Bed
🤍 Forced Proximity
🤍 Roommates
🤍 Grumpy x Sunshine
🤍 Flower Farm

Thoughts:
I wanted to like this book SO BAD but I just didn’t 😢 I always like to keep my reviews positive even if I give a book a low rating so here are my thoughts.

This one just didn’t submerge me into the story. I felt like the characters were lacking depth and a connection with each other. The premise of this book sets up for some amazing tension between these two women but it just ended up being anti-climactic for me.

The spicy scenes were well done but I wanted their chemistry and personalities during those scenes to bleed into their characters through out the rest of the book. There were also quite a few of pop culture references in this one that really took me out of the story.

But, I did love the setting! The flower farm was a great setting for this spring themed read. There were a few moments between these two characters that I loved as well and I liked all of the side characters, especially Opal’s sisters!

As always, reading is subjective so give this a chance if you like the tropes and want a steamy spring sapphic read! 🤍

I FLEW through this!! Sapphic delight. Maybe my favorite sapphic romance yet? Idk. I devoured it. The main characters have ADHD/Autism. The side characters are a delight (actually wished for more from them!). The setting is immaculate. The sex is so hot. It was a delight! Probably my favorite part about it is that being queer was just accepted and there was no coming out or homophobia to speak of. JOY ONLY!! It’s silly and fun and adorable. 4.5!

✨ PRINCEMAN REVIEW ✨

📝 When Opal wins the lottery, she feels like all her problems are solved! She's able to quick her job where no one respected her. But all good things come with a price. As a winner, everyone is knocking on her door asking for a handout, and Opal struggles to say no. One opportunity has her buying a struggling flower farm. She's excited to live in North Carolina in peace...that is until Pepper shows up at her door demanding that she's the rightful owner. These two couldn't be any more opposite, but can they come together to save the farm?

What I 🤍:
💞 Opposites Attract
🤝 Workplace Romance
💐 Flower Farm
🎟️ Lottery Winner
☀️ Grumpy X Sunshine
🤗 Close Proximity
🌸 Small Town
🧠 Neurodivergent Rep
🥰 Found Family

What an adorable sapphic novel. What I appreciated most was how these two characters felt so 'human.' They were both flawed, and that allowed for beautiful character growth individually and together as a couple. I love how Eddings' books are always such comfort reads, and this one didn't disappoint. Also, hands down to the cover illustrator because this cover is GORGEOUS!

The plot is a bit unbelievable but it is a cute story. Similiar authors would be Alison Cochrun and Alexandria Bellefleur.
.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Rating 4.75 stars

So I'd never read a Mazey Eddings book, but I'd heard amazing things and that prompted me to pick up Late Bloomer. Wow, I was not disappointed in the slightest! Not only is it a true enemies to loves and opposites attract, but it is such a raw and swoon worthy sapphic novel I could not get enough of. This may just be an auto-buy author for me going forward!

I finished the book a while ago and am late with my review. Thinking back on the story itself, the story was cute, fluffy, and easy read but it was also a bit forgettable. I enjoyed the atmosphere and wished I could be on a flower farm in the mountains! I thought the the romance was fine… but yeah I’m struggling with the romance and I think I spent more time thinking about being at a flower farm, ha. I'd still recommend it to some friends who I think would appreciate a story like this.

This book is the perfect blend of sapphic romance and an easy read. The characters pepper and opal were interesting and I found myself continuing to want to see what happened next.
If you are in the mood for a cute queer romance, this book is for you!