Did I enjoy this book? Eh. But is that solely due to the fact that I just think I don't care for contemporary books that much? Yes. For what the book is, it did the job. But for me? The lack of action coupled with the only conflict being a staggering and honestly annoying amount of miscommunication was driving me up the wall. At least with some other contemporary books I've read at least a little something happens but I felt like absolutely nothing happened.

TLDR; If you like contemporary Sapphic books then read this. You'll enjoy it. It's fun and sweet and has some descriptive sex scenes. It just wasn't personally for me because I like a bit more action in my stories.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I thought the narration was well performed and fit the characters personalities. The mix of emotion, love and humor was a perfect balance. So glad to get the opportunity to listen to this sapphic romance!

A Mazey Eddings novel truly is ‘sugar and spice and everything nice!’

I thoroughly enjoyed this sapphic romance that was filled with joy, vivid descriptions, witty banter, angst, insecurities, acceptance, artistry, friendships, sibling love, healing, flowers, spicy romance, and neurodivergent representation.

I loved that the characters didn’t try to change each other but worked to sort out their own and each other’s feelings (although they do avoid each other when embarrassed or unsure). I thought Opal and Pepper complimented each other really well, despite being opposites. This made for an entertaining read that had me laughing out loud at times. Opal’s sisters and Pepper’s friends are incredibly supportive, kind, and very entertaining adding an extra layer of depth.

I also thought that grief of a loved one was handled gently with a lot of heart and acceptance. And when you finish this book, if you want to talk about Pepper’s mother, I have a lot of thoughts, and I’m sure you will too.

I switched between the ebook and audiobook while reading and really enjoyed both formats. The audiobook narrator was able to give the characters distinct voices, which really helped bring both Opal and Pepper to life. Though if I were reading this with others around I’d definitely use headphones or the ebook during the spice because those scenes are spicy!

<If you like a more chaste romance book, this might not be the tale for you>.

Thank you to NetGalley Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the advance ebook and audio books of this fantastic title. Mazey Eddings I loved “Late Bloomer!”

Available for preorder now and on shelves next Tuesday, April 16.

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This is one of my favorite sapphic romances I’ve ever read. It was just so cute. I loved opal and her people pleasing self. Watching her starting to put herself first was just so idk perfect. The representation in this book was excellent as well. Spice was great. I will definitely recommend this book and be checking out other books by Mazey.

4.5 stars

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book was much as I did, but I LOVED the setting and both MCs.

Opal and Pepper fit together so well and complement each other in every possible way. Their interactions were beautiful and mesmerizing. Pretty much an unputdownable book which I relished. Pepper is uncomfortable around Opal and dislikes her from the start. Opal in her own words- is a chronic people pleaser, ready to do anything to help Pepper even though the situation is not to her liking either. This is somewhat of opposites attract romance and I really enjoyed it.

There's some great mental health rep thrown in there and Eddings has given adequate emphasis on the backstories. I instantly liked the MCs and the side characters and rooted for them. Nothing about them was a red flag and the way the showed their care and affection for each other was endearing. I liked the way the climax was resolved too, everything felt cozy and believable. My only issue was with Trish, and her initial portrayal verses the image Pepper painted later on. I'd like it if there was some light shed on her background too.

Eddings has put together a list of book titles that were on hold in the writing process as well as the significance of the different flowers referenced in the book. I was certainly not expecting that, and it was a pure delight to get that added joy to my reading experience. My first book by the author and it won't be my last!

So everything above this is back from when I reviewed the ARC and after listening to the ALC, I've some more thoughts. Yup, I still like the MCs and love the scenery, but the book's lost some of its initial spark. Sometimes I felt there was too much emphasis on a character's emotions- telling instead of showing. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I was too in love with everything the first time and now without the rose-tinted glasses, I see how this is far from perfect.

When Opal, an artist, wins the lottery she purchases a flower farm sight unseen. Opal arrives at the farm to find that it’s not unoccupied. Pepper, the granddaughter of the flower farm owner, is surprised to find that her mom sold the farm without her knowledge. The cheerful Opal and grumpy Pepper live together on the farm. Opal wants to help Pepper earn money to buy back the farm and together they enter a flower competition.

Flowers, love and personal growth bloom in this book. I love the tropes - forced proximity and opposites attract. I was expecting the story to be a little more about saving the farm and their romance. Instead it was a lot about the characters self reflecting.

The characters are quirky and very likable. I thought them starting out as no strings attached as a little odd because they clearly had an undeniable romantic connection. Their sexual attraction and the spice was top notch. This book was a nice, easy romance read.

I enjoyed the audiobook. The voices captured their personalities nicely and helped me differentiate the POVs.

At the end of the book the author gives an explanation of the flowers and it was really interesting. I also enjoyed her commentary on the book title controversy.

I highly recommend this book if you’re a fan of Mazey Eddings, sapphic romances and opposites attract love stories.

Mazey Eddings can do exactly no wrong, and this is evidence of such. I have seen criticism that the characters skew too young in this title, and I would argue that it makes the experience more real. Our FMCs have had experiences with substance abuse, and are sexual-I think these are both areas that are so very real and raw, and a lot of writers are afraid to go there. Mazey handles these topics with grace and still allowing the experiences to shine. The narration was great and I think this lended itself to audio just fine!

Opal, having recently won the lottery, buys the Thistle and Bloom, a struggling flower farm. When she arrives, she realizes that she got more than she bargained for when the previous owner's granddaughter, Pepper, is still living and working on the farm, and she isn't planning to leave. The two form a tense agreement to share the farm until the end of the season, butting heads at every corner. The two must learn to work together if they want the farm (or themselves) to make it to the end of the season! This book does include on page references to past use of drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism. There is also a verbally abusive parental relationship on page.

Tropes include:

✅ Sapphic Romance
✅ Enemies to Lovers
✅ Forced Proximity
✅ Neurodiveregent Representation
✅ Autism Representation
✅ Bisexual Representation
✅ Cottage Core Vibes

Overall, a lovely sapphic romance. Pepper and Opal are a cute pair, and their happy ending literally made me sob. I wish that this audiobook never had to end and I could bask in the warmth of their love forever <3

Minus one star for lots of pop cultural references, and because Mazey Eddings created a perfect world that I can't actually live in 😉

I pre ordered this book and requested the ARC. THAT'S HOW MUCH I WANTED TO READ IT. This book is fantastic. A saphic grumpy sunshine. With neuro spicy representation. I'm so obsessed. Highly highly recommend

I love everything about this book. It’s sweet, sexy, loving. It is such a beautiful book about a beautiful relationship, and Mazey’s writing is warm and hopeful. It’s a wonderful book and a wonderful read.

Thank you NetGalley and Mazey for the ARC audiobook. All statements are my own thoughts and feelings towards the book.
I was given the audiobook and I really enjoyed her narration. Audio narration can really impact a story when it not done well, but this was good! She did a good job of using different voices for different POVs with Opal and Pepper.

The story is about Opal, who is struggling through adulthood when her crappy best friend gives her a scratch off ticket for her birthday. She wins big, 500,000, and takes a big leap to follow her heart and dreams. In the process, she ends up living with Pepper, a semi-grumpy autistic woman whose grandmother recently passed away. How will these two make it work?

Opal was so relatable to me, like I saw a previous version of myself in her. The people pleasing, the self doubt, the adhd. She really nailed it for me. I also love how the author weaved their neurodiversity into the story line. It gave great context without taking over the story.

4.5 stars

Every once in a while, something in my brain gets a bit resistant to starting a new rom-com novel (something about not being prepared for all the emotional ups and downs, probably), but then I begin a book like this one, and I wonder why I ever read anything else. I’ve quite enjoyed all my books from this writer. She has an impressive ability to pull me into her stories right away, she crafts interesting and relatable characters, and she includes intentional and meaningful representation of diverse identities. Plus, this one was set on a flower farm- I love it. As with other books I’ve read from the writer, this story contains a mix of sweet romance, spicy interludes, funny moments, angsty scenes, heavy topics handled with care, and a happy ending. Plus, the cover is beautiful, and I’m a fan of the title she eventually settled on. Love it all!

Not going to lie, this cover called to me and it is gorgeous.

This one was definitely more of a slow burn, grumpy sunshine, small town, saphic romance. I did love the autistic and other non-neurotypical representation, and it definitely had some spice. Also loved the Asheville setting.

Opal is down on her luck when she wins the lottery. She buys a flower farm on Facebook Marketplace (much to her family's dismay and horror) and moves there to create her shoe art. She meets Pepper, who was under the impression this farm was left to her in her Grandma's will. They butt heads, they are opposites, but oh do they attract.

There was a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding, which is not my favorite.

I will say I definitely learned a thing or two.

Many thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio for an ALC, and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Macmillanaudio for my free copy!

I listened to the audiobook and it was great! I loved the sweet and reluctant romance between the two neurodivergent main characters! This book was fun, quirky and uplifting! Definitely a must have read for any lgbt reader/supporter!

Opal wins a cool half million on a scratch off she received as a last minute gift for her birthday. Tired of her people pleasing existence, always putting others before her self, her fake best friend and ex-boyfriend stealer, Opal decides to drastically change her life and follow her artistic dreams! She buys a flower farm in the hills of North Carolina, where Pepper, current tenant and grand-daughter of the late owner is shocked to discover her mother sold it out from under her!

Opal and Pepper come up with a solution for the unfortunate circumstance of taking away Pepper's home and try to live peacefully together as Pepper scrambles to come up with funds to buy the farm back from Opal. Enter some SPICE, lesbians, conflict and two quirky women and you have a terrific read!

At the end of the audiobook Mazey discusses the struggle with giving this book a title and one of her suggestions, Pepper + Opal 5ever, honestly felt pretty right for the story as the book was pretty low angst and felt like a coming of age kind of moment for both of our main characters. Opal is finally ready to kick her people pleasing to the curb and start living life for her, and Pepper is ready to take on improving the flower farm and her future. I enjoyed the neurodivergent rep in both of our main characters and loved the backdrop of the flower farm. I also love the story line of Pepper being. a late bloomer, but I was sad that was not more of a part of a consideration throughout the story. I expected more contemplation and processing in her chapters since the title of the book seemed to reference her as a late bloomer. I liked the general story, but I sometimes felt like not much was going on. Several times while listening to the audiobook it took me a moment to realize who was talking because I felt like their voices in the writing were very similar. It was a cute, easy rom com read that kind of reminded me of a spice, sapphic Hallmark movie.

This book is spectacular, and the naration is perfection! the voice fits the characters so well and I really feel like I understand both of the main chratcters perspectives in much more detail by listening to this book as an audiobook.

This book made my whole heart so happy. I loved the sapphic romance, the neurodivergent rep, the story. I just loved everything about it

Unfortunately, I deeply dislike Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. I wanted to like it so badly as I love a good lesbian romance, especially given how much I love Opal, who we meet first. However, Pepper is a horrid character that doesn't take accountability for her actions, blaming her upbringing for her to emulate the adage "hurt people hurt people". There needs to come a time when the pity party ends and a person takes ownership of their life. For clarification, I am neurodivergent (recently diagnosed) and raised by an abusive, narcissistic mother, so I deeply understand the ramifications of this and how hard it is to let go of that hurt and pain. The side effects of being treated this way as a child are 100% real, but I have no patience for perpetual victims. Once you know better, the responsibility to be better is now yours. Therapy exists to help with this exact problem. But, instead of getting real help, she took all of her problems and insecurities out on Opal who, not once, did anything to cause distrust, pain, or harm to Pepper. Then, "a few years later" everything is fixed and perfect. Just...no.

Even though Pepper ruined the book for me, I still rate Late Bloomer 2 stars: 1 for narration and 1 for Opal.

Ellie Gossage is an amazing narrator! Her voices for Pepper and Opal are so distinct that it seems like there are two narrators. I absolutely love this.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This was such an adorable novel. I loved the flower farm setting. As someone who loves flowers ( and has done a fair bit of flower research for her own novel) I genuinely appreciated all the flower talk! I also really loved the representation in this novel. Both girls are neurodivergent with Pepper having autism and Opal having ADHD (though she said she was undiagnosed in the novel). Opal is also bisexual.! I'm unclear if Pepper said she was lesbian or pan. I think one of those was mentioned but I can't remember!

Opal was so funny and I loved how kind and caring she was. She was so patient with Pepper and understanding and I truly think they made an amazing couple together! They really balanced one another. Pepper was very blunt and unable to express her emotions at time (which I related to hardcore) but she showed up and spoke up when it mattered most so thats all you can really ask for! I also really enjoyed Opal's sisters (Olivia and Ophelia and yes, I too laughed at the O names). They were very protective of Opal and very funny.

Overall a very cute and very spicy story!

I absolutely adored the setting and premise for this story ~ flower farm + neurodivergent sapphic romance! Those things drew me to the story and kept me listening, along with the great audio narration. And while I really liked this book, I actually wish it hadn't centered around a competition, and instead had just let us get to know Opal and Dev doing flower and art things in a less contrived way? Regardless, this is a delightful spring romance with some seriously steamy open door scenes.

This book will also be featured on my Substack http://mindfullibrarian.substack.com on Saturday, April 20.