*Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest review*

This book feels like how I imagine hugging Mazey Eddings would be like - Soft, warm, and delightful. The narrator did SO well that I honestly thought that there were 2 females narrating. A flower farm in North Carolina is such a fun setting, and I almost wished that we had more book to explore the flower fields and area more. There's a decent amount of steam, though I do feel like I could've done with more. Like how often do you get a natural opportunity to get it on in a flower field? Regardless, this book is full of quotes that made my heart ache and feel so wholly seen as a person. Felt like Opal wasn't the only one who won the lottery.

I loved how this book exists in the same Mazeyverse and I really hope that this gets picked up as a series because I'd love to see Olivia and Ophelia's stories as well.

I loved this book so much. I cannot wait to re-read this over and over.

The relationship development between Opal and Pepper made me feel a level of hope that I didn't know I needed. We can only be so lucky to find a love like theirs.

I really enjoyed this sapphic romance, and I think it's probably best enjoyed as an audiobook.

Things I loved:
1. I loved how nuanced and unique the two FMCs are. I love that they don't narrowly follow labels and definitions.
2. I loved the setting of the Thistle and Bloom flower farm. It felt really special and made the romance feel like an escape.
3. I thought the found family around Pepper was an absolute delight and her birthday party was one of my favorite parts of the book.
4. Opal. I love her. I want to be her best friend ASAP.

Things I didn't love:
1. I live near Asheville, NC and anyone who lives in a four hour radius knows it's become incredibly gentrified and overpriced by tourists and folks with high paying remote jobs that have largely wiped the cultural diversity from the area. In light of this, it was tough to romanticize a version of Asheville where someone is buying a farm for $300,000 and isn't getting any pushback from locals.
2. I needed more about grandma. I know we were supposed to see her as wise, loving, and caring, but it was more a a tell than a show. I think more flashback's or touches of her in the house would have helped.
3. We never really touch on the power dynamic of Opal owning the home, land, and business that Pepper is living at.... like how is pepper buying groceries? How does she not feel like Opal's employee? That was a bit confusing for me.

I generally really loved the audio version, and I think the author's note and acknowledgement at the end actual improved my overal perception of the book. I'm really grateful to #NetGalley for the chance to read the audiobook, though I have one note for the narration (though it may be too late). The narrator says Appalachian like a northerner. People in the south, especially NC say it like "I threw an Apple-At-Cha" and I think this is how Opal would say the word. I know it's small, but it's a big deal around here.

You have to suspend disbelief in the set-up to this sweet, opposites attract romance. When Opal wins the lottery, her impulsive nature leads her to spend most of her winnings on a flower farm she buys sight unseen on Facebook Marketplace. Somehow this is not a scam but the sale comes as a surprise to the farm’s caretaker and long-term resident, Pepper. Any guesses what happens when Opal shows up and becomes Pepper’s new roommate? There’s also a floral sculpture competition, some charming side characters, and an evil mother and toxic ex thrown in for good measure.

Overall, I think I ended up liking the characters, especially Pepper and her friends, a whole lot more than the story. There isn’t a whole lot of conflict or angst in the relationship itself and all external problems seemed to quickly appear before being easily resolved. So this is perfect when you just need something charming and comforting to read.

I was a little worried when I saw that the audiobook had a single narrator even though the chapters alternate between Opal and Pepper’s POVs. This was ultimately handled well by the narrator, who was able to give both characters a distinct voice, but I think this would have been better with two different actors.

I’d give the story 3.5 stars and the audiobook 4 stars.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one was very cute.

It took me a second to connect with both Pepper and Opal. And there were moments where I just didn’t quite understand their choices. But once we got more back story and I came to appreciate them for who they were.

It was sweet how they fall into a relationship. How they slowly open up to each other. And then defend the other against those who are toxic.

I liked that there wasn’t too much relationship drama. Though there were times I wanted them to talk to each other rather than just making assumptions.

As usual, this book has a lot of great representation of neurodivergence. How it can come to play in a variety of situations/parts of a persons life.

Very entertaining and very fun. It’s sweet and funny. Recommend.

Okay this story is absolutely adorable and I FLEW through the audiobook. Mazey Eddings remains the queen of neurodivergence representation, and we love to see it. I loved Opal & Pepper. Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

Hell Yes.

I got exactly what I wanted and needed. This was so lovely. You did have to dispend a little bit of belief because as much as I want to believe that this girl was just going to buy property off of facebook marketplace... with zero lawyers involved... yikes... lol. Once you get past it, the rest of it is just lovely. It had perfect amounts of neurodivergence, flower puns, and close friend group that made this the perfect read.

Seriously a great time. The audiobook was a great way to recieve the book, and I'm going to be digging into Mazey Eddings backlist for sure.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Negalley and Macmillian Audio for an early copy.

This was a delightful book. Opal and Pepper were great characters. I loved how real they were, and the fact that the author showed their neurodiversity and autism is all its glory.
Opal wins the lottery and decided to buy a flower farm with her winnings. Unbeknownst to her, the farm already have somebody living there. Pepper is none too pleased when Opal shows up.
Their decision to cohabitate leads to a lot of crazy happenings. Besides Opal and Pepper, I was particularly fond of Peppers friend Diksha. This book made me laugh and cheer, and it also made me want to strangle a few of the characters.
It had a little bit of spice, nothing bad or over the top. This book is well worth a read.
The audio version was well made. The narrator held my interest and was easy to listen to.

Spicy sapphic romance! Opal and Pepper are both cute and quirky. The way they stumble around each other and try to fight their feelings to keep things casual-so great to listen to!

Thank you for the ALC for my honest review

This was a soft, steamy sapphic romance set on a flower farm. I really liked Opal and the way her self-confidence blossomed throughout the novel, and I enjoyed the way she walked Pepper through some of their more intimate moments, asking what she liked and telling her what *she* liked in return. I had to suspend my disbelief a fair bit at the beginning with the farm purchase (and the fact that the seller so clearly seemed to be a con artist), and I also didn't really get the whole shoe art idea (it just seemed too niche to take off as a business?). But apart from that, this was a relaxing read and I really enjoyed the neurodivergent rep.

I loved Opal and Pepper, the flower farm, how much they both developed throughout the book and the ending 🥹🥹🥹🥹


Huge thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio & St Martin's Press for an advance

While this can feel like a run-of-the-mill contemporary romance at (many) times, the representation of grief and neurodivergence really brought this home for me. The feeling of being in a home that became your safe space, but missing someone important in it, to finding new meaning within it. I loved watching Pepper and Opal's relationship blossom (haha, get it?), and their clumsy steps to growing closer.

And the narrator did an amazing job in conveying the characters' personalities. Pepper and Opal had different weights to them.

My biggest complaint is the ending felt weirdly rushed, and that the drama had my eyes rolling. But overall, I enjoyed the story.

I love mazey’s books so so much!! They’re always full of humor, passion, sexiness, emotion and so much more. Late Bloomer was no exception!

I loved both main characters equally and could relate to both of them in different ways. Pepper was standoffish, brash and guarded while Opal was open, cheery and excitable. Classic grumpy/sunshine trope! I especially loved Opal’s growth throughout this book. She seemed like a doormat at the start of the story and after cutting off the negative energy in her life and spending time at Thistle and Bloom with Pepper and friends she really started to ~bloom~ 😉. Basically, she got a backbone and found her voice and really discovered her confidence with Pepper’s support.

I felt so connected to the relationship Pepper had with her late grandmother. The sweet flashbacks where she was remembering special moments with her grandma were some of my favorite parts! I appreciated Pepper’s healing as well through her constant grief.

Overall totally adored this story, and let’s give a moment to that COVER!!

I adored this book! 🌷💕

Opal wins the lottery and spontaneously buys a flower farm. She meets Pepper who works and lives on the farm. The two begrudgingly come together to save the failing farm. It’s not long until their friendship turns into more..💜

This is a cute and fun read but it also had a lot of depth. Both of these characters are relatable and complex. The neurodivergent representation was handled well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a happy feel good book! If you enjoy small town romance and the LGBTQ this is definitely for you! A few times were a little cliche and it was pretty cheesy but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The cover is amazing, the narrator was fantastic!

Not great but not awful. A pretty run of the mill contemporary romance. Great sapphic and neurodivergent representation. The general plot is very Hallmark-y and really sweet.
It meets the usual cringe threshold for this type of book and I try to be forgiving of it as it’s just to be expected but I really have a hard time with it.
If you’re looking for a cute and lighthearted story this one is if you.

I think this was my first audiobook by this narrator and I liked them a lot. Pepper and Opal had very distinct personalities through their voice and I really enjoyed the performance.
Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for the audio arc.

This was such a cute, and steamy grumpy x sunshine romcom!

Opal and Pepper are thrown together into a making the best of it situation after Opal purchases Pepper’s flower farm from the latter’s manipulative mother.

The instant connection between the two is electric, and while the push and pull was short, it was still angsty enough for my liking.

Pepper and Opal are both neurodivergent. While Opal discusses the hardships of trying to find a diagnosis (time, money) and decides to settle on simply calling herself neurodivergent, Pepper is autistic. Autism rep in books has come such a long way in the last 10 years, with a ton of added nuance to the characters and the diverse spectrum that is autism. I thought the author handled this well!

I found the romance to be adorable really endearing. These two are so into one another, but keep refusing to give in to the feelings they have. The physical burn was fast, but the emotional burn was much slower.

There are a couple TW’s I could think of with this book, specifically: gaslighting, manipulation, death of a loved one and discussions of alcohol dependency.

I thought this was so cute and steamy sapphic read, and would totally recommend this romcom to others!

Late Bloomer is such a sweet sapphic romance novel between Opal and Pepper. I loved reading about the character’s growth individually and reading how they grew together as well. There were so many funny moments throughout the novel, but also some moments that really made me reflect on my upbringing and childhood. I am one of three girls so I love that Opal has two sisters :) Overall, a wonderful book that kept me interested from the start! Ellie Gossage did a wonderful job narrating this book! Thank you NetGalley, Mazey Eddings, and Mcmillian Audio for an audio ARC of Late Bloomers for an exchange of my honest review!

This was a lovely romance book. It was sweet and passionate and I enjoyed listening to it thoroughly. It was incredibly cheesy as a fluffy romance book should be. I appreciate that books like this for a sapphic audience exists.
There was a lot that was good and sweet and overall I enjoyed it. A lot of the conflict between them felt very manufactured. I know it’s easy when looking in from the outside to point out that one or both of them is being unreasonable/unnecessarily internal. All the times Opal assumed what Pepper was thinking or wanted I wanted to rip my hair out, not just because I knew that wasn’t what pepper was thinking but because I couldn’t understand why Opal would behave that way! Again, of course it’s easier to see from the outside looking in, and I know part of the conflict was that they were both working through issues and feelings of inadequacy, but the conflict felt too manufactured at times.
I was very confused when they set up their rules for hooking up because I didn’t understand why they were setting hard boundaries when they so obviously liked each other. It seemed like they didn’t know either.
All in all it was a fun nice book. I was NOT expecting the smut when it popped up since the book had been clean and romantic for a full half of the book but it was very well written and felt true to sapphic love.

After Opal wins the lottery, she packs up her bags and buys a flower farm, site unseen. The problem? The woman she bought it from, her daughter still lives there…

My Thoughts:
My favorite thing about Mazey’s books is how she writes neurodivergent representation so, so well. She writes these amazing characters that I just want to hug.

This one wasn’t my favorite of hers though. A lot of things just didn’t add up to me - for example she won some lottery money, not a lot, and ALL her acquaintances come out of the woodwork to use her for such an amount, the My Chemical Romance references when they’re 24 and would have been 5 when MCR was popular, how much of a doormat Opal was. BUT it was a cute light read, and had me chuckling several times. If you like flower farms and want a light read, it’s great for that.

What You’ll Find In This Book:
🌸 Sapphic Romance
🌸 Flower farm
🌸 Opposites Attract
🌸 Only One Bed
🌸 Forced Proximity
🌸 Neurodivergent Rep