Opal, a chronic people pleaser and down on her luck, didn’t think winning the lottery would ruin her life, but it sort of did. Quitting her thankless job, she’s bombarded by people who have treated her horribly in the past but are now desperate for a handout. And Opal can’t stop saying yes.

In an attempt to get away from all the people, Opal decides to invest her money in a failing flower farm in North Carolina to move away from the hubbub and get started on her painting business. However, her plans for getting away from people fails when an angry Pepper Smith is waiting for her at her new farm. Pepper claims that she’s the real owner and isn’t going anywhere. Striking up a temporary agreement to co-habitate the farm until they figure out the rightful owner, neither of them expects that they might just find the sanctuary they were looking for—not in the farm but in each other.

Come for the sapphic opposites-attract romance, stay for the “getting called out as a chronic people pleaser” vibes.

Opal is a people pleaser if there ever was one. People use her because they know they can get away with it and Opal always feels incredibly guilty when she tries to take a stand or say no (been there). Anyone who’s ever been run over in the name of “being a good friend and helping out” is sure to know exactly how Opal feels 99% of the day. While I would have loved for a bit more here in terms of character development (Opal stays pretty much the same throughout the story albeit a slight bit better at confrontation), I also liked that this book felt a bit like a sitcom with characters just—staying the way they are while dealing with day-to-day life. Pepper, on the other hand, is dealing with grieving for her aunt and doesn’t handle change or strangers that well. In the beginning, Opal and Pepper definitely get off to a bad start and the sunshine/grumpy vibes truly are immaculate. But just like a flower, their romance blossoms in the end. Fans of slow burn will devour this for sure.

Are there high stakes? No. In all honesty, this is a fluffy, cute sapphic romance with minimal angst and most of the dramatic action happening in the background. Was there more potential for the characters and growth? Sure, but I enjoyed this story for what it was, which is really all you can ask for in a fun, short romance. The whole figuring out who will actually get to stay on the farm is wrapped up nicely in the end and makes for a happily ever after.

If you’re looking for a new soft and sapphic comfort read that’s light on the angst, then Late Bloomer is sure to brighten up your shelves.

There were moments of this story that were sweet, but the personalities of the main characters gave me whiplash - I can't really say definitively which traits they each had that were consistent throughout the book to some extent, they oscillated so drastically and suddenly.

Late Bloomers by Mazey Eddings starts with a depressing picture of our MC Opal. She is very self-destructive and needy, and I'll admit my first reaction was anger. I was thinking how could she allow herself to be disrespected repeatedly? I wanted to scream at her and tell her to value herself more. I kept reading because I was hoping to see some real growth in her character. I thought I couldn't relate to her very well. Then it hit me. I was angry because maybe I could relate to her a little too much. Her self-loathing and naivete frustrated me. Once we are introduced to Pepper things get interesting. I really enjoyed their interactions. There is witty banter, good chemistry, and despite their differences, great compatibility. We find out that both women are neurodivergent, and they complement each other so well, offering each other understanding and stability. That is once they learn to communicate.
Mazey Eddings is so good at pulling us into the lives of these two women who see the world differently. The setting is beautiful, and the character development is important. The author brings a range of emotions. I was feeling it throughout. The writing style was easy to read and follow and kept me engaged. I never felt bored and was happy with the ending.
The epilogue and author notes were a nice bonus.
We have a diverse queer rep, neurodiverse mains dealing with past trauma, mental illness rep, fair-weather friends, a narcissist con-woman mother to stir the mix, pop culture references, and a style of speaking that may not age well but that I found helped me to connect to the characters. Some more reading challenge categories include grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, only one bed, found family, adoption, no strings (for a minute), farm life (flowers), consent is sexy, competency is sexy, and no third-act breakup. It was a great story with a lot of heart. I recommend.

Late Bloomer is a sapphic love story set on a flower farm in North Carolina. It’s about a blooming romance (pun and reference to the title, very much intended) between Pepper and Opal, totally opposites in many ways, as much as it’s also about Pepper and Opal coming to learn that they are each worthy of love.

This was incredibly funny but also very sweet. The imagery and metaphors were engaging. It’s gay. It’s neurodiverse. It’s magic.

I had a difficult time suspending belief of how Opal bought the farm at the start of this book BUT in getting to know her character, her actions were actually very much on brand for her. So I’d say if you have that initial reaction, a couple chapters in, keep going because it totally works. One of my favorite reads of the year so far!

Thanks very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you have been here awhile, you know how much I love Mazey Eddings. The Plus One remains my favorite contemporary romance of all time, but I am sad to report that I was a tiny bit disappointed with Late Bloomer.

I always adore Mazey's characters. They are relatable, and I care deeply about their inner thoughts and how they work through issues, especially with their neurodiversity. When I read Eddings' books, I feel seen.

Opal and Pepper are no different. I liked both the main characters and Opal's sisters, too. (I hope we get their books.) I connected most with Pepper, as I also have past trauma caused by family. I think what was missing for me was the characters' vulnerability. While it is touched upon, I wanted more. I wanted to feel Pepper's hurt, but I didn't. This is usually standard in Mazey's books. So, I was expecting to be hurt.

My other issue, which was surprising, was that I struggled with the plot. As a character-driven reader, the plot rarely matters. Yet, here, it felt unfocused, especially the competition aspect. Had this plot point been brought to the forefront more, it would have helped a ton. It felt like a waste of a beautiful and clever setting.

Despite my issues, I still had fun. I loved Opal and Pepper and their romance. I smiled and laughed a lot. If you love sweet, sapphic contemporary romances, I recommend you try this and all of Mazey's works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well, it’s not my least favorite romance of the year but it’s certainly not a book I enjoyed reading.

This book left me equal parts bored and frustrated. Opal, one of the MCs, describes herself as a five-foot-two human disaster with green hair. That’s a great way to describe her character, only she’s not a disaster in the cute, quirky, manic-pixie way that this book wants you to believe. She’s a mess and not an enjoyable one to read. From the very first chapter, I knew I would dislike reading her POV and unfortunately it never changed. I really don’t have any kind words to say about her, so I will refrain. But she might be one of the worst MCs I’ve read in a long time.

Pepper was much better and I found her personal story to be more compelling. To be honest, she was more interesting in scenes when she wasn’t interacting with Opal. I wish we could have gotten more of her with her friends. And it’s a shame that her and Opal get a happily ever after, because I think Pepper could do better. We really don’t get to see the characters grow as much as they need to, to have a convincing, successful relationship. With the way the story leaves off before going into an epilogue that takes place 3 years later, I’m really not convinced they’re ready to take on a serious commitment with each other.

I found the sex scenes to be boring and lacking in intimacy. After the first one, I felt like they didn’t really serve to move the story or the characters forward. They were just sort of thrown in there for the sake of smut. That would be fine if they were good (they aren’t), but I enjoy a good sex scene when it reveals more about the individuals and the couple as a whole, and I didn’t feel that from this book.

This is an upcoming release that I was really looking forward to and anxious to read. Sadly, it just really fell flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

UGHHHHHH.

I really did not like this book. It took me forever to finish, and I didn’t find it cute at all. Opal wins a lot of money on a lottery scratch-off and instead of setting herself up for several years, she buys a farm she has never seen and her plan is to paint shoes for a living. That alone, made my head hurt. Then she meets Pepper, the human equivalent of a mean wet blanket and somehow falls in love with her, despite Pepper being nothing but rude and mean to her. Seriously, Opal realizes she has feelings for Pepper after she takes care of her during a crippling migraine and Pepper is FINALLY nice to her for the first time.

Nope. Nope. Nope nope nope. That is ridiculous and I hate it. This relationship was super toxic and I’m not going to pretend it’s cute and funny. The cover is absolutely stunning, so I’ll give it two stars instead of one.

3.5 This book didn't wow me, but i liked it. I dont listen to much lesbian romance, but it was just an okay read.i enjoyed the characters, and the narrators made it easy to follow along. I didn't get into the secondary characters as much. Like opals friend who "stalked her." And only cared about herself. But buying a flower farm from facebook was just bizarre to me. Like girl, you could have been scammed, but over all it was fast-paced.

Let's start with the cover - absolutely stunning. Now, onto the characters: Opal embodies chaos in the best way possible, while Pepper tends to abide by the rules.
As for the story, it's a charming, low-stakes sapphic romance, perfect for cozying up with on a rainy day. Highly recommended for anyone in need of a comforting read!

In his review of Battlefield Earth, Roger Ebert wrote: “The director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why.” As I’ve started collecting my thoughts on Late Bloomer, I think I’ve come to a similar conclusion: this is a romance novel written by someone who understands the trappings of the genre but doesn’t appear to understand why they’re used.
Let me be candid: if this were a het romance novel, I’d be much harsher. As it is, the welcome novelty of a f/f romance (with two neurodiverse heroines to boot) is the sole reason for the 2-stars I’m giving.
This is a book where things just… happen. The first chapter involves one of the main characters winning the lottery, an event that has the same overall influence on the plot as a scene where that same character dyes her hair. An event that seems to be the climax of the plot comes and goes in a single paragraph; my note reads, simply: “hey, what?” I get it - romance novels aren’t typically plot-heavy. All the same, though, I like mine to have some stakes. Or at least, you know, logical consistency. Otherwise, what’s the point? Why am I bothering to get invested in the conflict if there’s no rhyme or reason to what constitutes a conflict?
Speaking of conflict: our two main characters, Pepper and Opal, continue to tell us, throughout their individual POV chapters, that they “dislike” each other and “can’t be in a relationship” - but it’s not really clear why, exactly, other than that “enemies to lovers” is a trope of the romance genre, and there has to be some conflict, right? Yet from what we see of their relationship, they’re friendly from their very first meeting. They plant flowers together. They celebrate birthdays. They have sex to.. let off steam? Again, it’s unclear, except that “we hate each other but let’s bang out the tension” is something that sometimes happens, so it might as well happen here, too.
One more note, and it’s a minor thing, but it’s definitely relevant: the writing feels, for lack of a better word, incredibly online. Characters reference Phoebe Bridgers prayer candles, Shrek memes, Tumblr, “Am I The Asshole,” “bisexual finger guns,” etc. YMMV in terms of how much this bothers you; personally, I found it incredibly grating, especially when it seemed like every other line of dialogue was some stale meme from six months ago that will feel positively ancient by the time of publication.
Ultimately, this book is… fine. I breezed through it in an afternoon, and neurodivergent characters are unfortunately still so rare in romance that it gets some points for that alone. In the end, however, I think this is another case of an interesting concept, poor execution.



(Review will be posted 04/02)

This was my first Mazey Eddings novel and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to read Late Bloomer. This book had so many elements I love: opposites attract trope, starting over in a small town, queer friend groups, and a HEA. And as a wannabe romance author, I also very much liked reading the author notes at the end 🫶🏻

Read for:
😊 neurodivergent rep
🔥 amazing sapphic spice
🌷 small town community vibes

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Winning the lottery has ruined Opal Devlin's life. She’s bombarded by people knocking at her door for a handout the second they found out her bank account was overflowing with cash and Opal can’t seem to stop saying yes. With her tender heart thoroughly abused, Opal decides to protect herself by any means necessary, which to her translates to putting almost all her new money to buying a failing flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina to let the flowers live out their plant destiny while she uses the cabin on the property to start her painting business. But her plans for isolation and self-preservation go hopelessly awry when an angry (albeit gorgeous) Pepper Smith is waiting for her at her new farm. Pepper states she’s the rightful owner of Thistle and Bloom Farms, and isn’t moving out. The unlikely pair strike up an agreement of co-habitation, and butt-heads at every turn. Can these opposites both live out their dreams and plant roots? Or will their combustible arguing (and growing attraction) burn the whole place down?

I am a huge fan of Mazey Eddings books. I was so excited to read this one. I really wanted to love this book, however, I just found myself not staying connected. I kept skimming and putting this one down. I will say I am probably not the target demographic for this book, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I found Opal's innocence in the beginning almost unbelievable. Like who just buys a farm off Facebook marketplace without doing any due diligence or even seeing the place or having an inspection? Not to mention $500,000 in winnings isn't that much, especially after taxes. I felt like everyone thought she won 5,000,000. I did like the secondary characters more. Opal's sisters and Peppers friends swooped in when it really mattered and they had great personalities. While this book wasn't for me, I think it is important to keep putting sapphic romances, especially showing mental health and neurodivergences out into the world as this one did so well. There is such a need for representation in literature like this.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 4/16

An enemies to lovers queer romance set on a flower farm in Asheville? Sold. I love Mazey’s voice—current, fast and funny. Lots of sex scenes, if you’re into that. Just what I needed to read right now, honestly.

Overall I enjoyed the story. It was sweet and lighthearted. This book is sapphic with opposites attract.

It focuses more on the two main characters with short bits from side characters, but I enjoyed the characters. I did feel like something little was missing between the two main characters. For me they were more friends with benefits and I didn't feel as much chemistry between the two as the author meant for there to be. They were great together and I enjoyed both of the characters.

At the end of the book the author includes a list of flowers used throughout the story, the flower meaning and how each was used throughout the story. Not just where the flowers were in the scene, but also what the flowers meant for that particular scene. This was a wonderful touch to the story and shows the author did her homework and put care into the story.

I have enjoyed each of Mazey Eddings books. I love the way she tells stories and creates her characters. This wasn't my favorite of her books, but I still enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

📚Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
🎧ALC Review(Copy gifted by @macmillanaudio via @netgalley)
🚨While reviewed copy is gifted, opinions are always my own.
Status: Available April 16th, Not KU

🥰Enjoyment: Ah I loved this! I loved Opal and Pepper and their friends and the flower farm. I just loved it.

📖 🎧 Writing &/or Audio Style: This was my second Mazey Eddings title, the previous one being Tilly in Technicolor, which is a YA title. This one definitely not. Not “smutty” per se but there’s spice and steaaaam. Eddings writing style is easy to get sucked into and really enjoyable. I love her representation of neurodivergent characters. Ellie Gossage did a very nice job with the narration, I particularly enjoyed her performance as Opal, but her Pepper voice grew on me over time as well.


👥 Characters & Relationships: Late Bloomer is literally the perfect title for this one (there’s a whole explanation on how this title came to be at the end of the book), but in Opal & Pepper both (despite their sunshine/grumpy demeanors) we have two perfectly imperfect women, living with ND brains, trying to carve out their spot in the world in spite of external influences.

⁉️Plot, Intrigue & Logic: The plot was really cute and enjoyable. I felt like the blurb exaggerated aspects that were not as prominent in the story, just an FYI. But I loved the premise and how Opal’s personality really dragged Pepper along for the glass half full ride.

🏞️Atmosphere & Setting: Set in Asheville NC, but primarily on the flower farm I imagined this beautiful fragrant setting.

🚨 For Reader Awareness: Really crappy parent, crappy “friends”

📣Recommended for fans of: Romcoms with Neurodivergent rep

🎭Mood Reader Classification: I loved it. Might own a copy one day, especially if the right special edition comes along.

Absolutely loved this book. It's actually a 4.5, but this was the perfect level of banter, healing from trauma, and spicy to make the perfect book.

Oh, how I wish I loved this more.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy aspects of it (the setting, Pepper's growth and background story), unfortunately I did not connect with Opal or the romance in general which for someone reading a romance book...says a lot. I found the romance to be too cheesy and kind of cringe at time with the way they would talk to each other, especially Opal. I can understand why Opal is the character that she is but I found her to be a difficult character to connect to mainly because she is a MESS. While I can empathize with feeling like life has a way of always knocking you down, the ways that was portrayed in this book--albeit, I believe it was meant for comic relief---I just found it so cringe and eye-roll worthy. She's almost like this extreme caricature of a the "hot mess, free spirited girly" that it just fell flat for me and annoyed me more than it put a smile on my face.

I did, however, really like Pepper's character. While she did also have some cliche types of behaviors or dialogue, her backstory and trauma and her responses to it (i.e., her personality and the way she responds to people and things around her), felt more authentic. I also really liked her small found family and I loved how they wholly accepted her for who she is. I would've loved more scenes with them because you could really see a different side of what made up Pepper when they were in the scene.

The romance...I just didn't feel anything. I think their dynamic just didn't work for me and reading their *spicy* scenes was like reading a report for work. They were spicy, but because I didn't feel their connection, I sadly just did not care. While I can understand why/how they work well together (looking at the personalities, how they can balance each other, etc.), I felt it fell a bit flat in practice. Nonetheless, I do think I'm in the majority with that feeling and I'm totally ok with that!

Overall, I am happy I read this as it was cute and I loved the aspect of the flower farming and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet, cheesy kind of romance that gives you Hallmark movie vibes.

Never in my life did I think I would get an approved copy of this book, but I am so happy I did! I finished this book so quickly because I just could not put it down at all. I loved both Pepper and Opal so much! The way they were able to both work with each other through their differences while figuring out who they are independently was so lovely to read. I felt so connected to both of the characters in different ways and seeing them develop throughout the story was so touching. The angst, the tension, the romance!!! I LOVED the found family aspect and would have killed to see more of it.

🌸BOOK REVIEW🌸

Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

“Sapphic, neurodivergent women working on a flower farm and falling in love? Be still my cottagecore lesbian heart! Eddings always knows how to check all my boxes with her affirming romance novels, but Late Bloomer has my whole heart. This book bursts with Eddings’ trademark compassion, humor, and beautifully flawed characters, all within a magnificent story about queer joy, queer love, and the power of queer community. As hopeful as the first bud of spring, as lovely as the lilacs in bloom, and as gay as lavender, this book is a must-read.” — Alison Cochrun

Mazey is always a must read for me and this one was no different! I love that she uses neurodiverse and flawed but lovable characters.

Recommend if you like:
- Sapphic romance
- Slow burn
- Enemies to lovers
- Neurodiversity
- Found family

I wanted to love this one more than I did. I love Mazey Eddings and her writing style and her characters. But I just couldn't connect to either Opal or Pepper like I wanted to. So while I did enjoy the book,and I thought it was really cute, it didn't resonate with me like her previous works have. It did have a good cast of characters and I would love to read about Ophelia and Olivia's stories as well.

3.5 stars
2 spice