I recieved an eARC in echange for my honest opinion. Thank you Netgalley,
Headline Eternal and Mazey Eddings for this oportunity. All opinions are my own.

Basic data:
- Contemporary FF romance
- Double POV. First person. Single timeline.
- Standalone (At lest at the moment I read it)

Tropes/Hooks:
- Sapphic romance
- Forced proximity
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- Opposites attract
- Neurodivergence representation
- Grief representation

My opinion:
- Generally speaking I enjoyed the book, but I didn't feel obsessed with the story or the characters. The book is well written and reads fast.
- I loved the flower farm setting of this book, I don't think I read anything like that before. I especially love flower glossary at the end.
- The book was pretty much character driven and not much had happened plotwise, even though there were some subplots related to family relations and flower farm managment. Generally speaking this book is on a slow pace side.
- It's a low angst, low conflict, feel good read, so if this is something you are looking for this one is for you.
- The premise of how Opal came into owenship of the farm and that Pepper just kept staying there seems kind of unreal, but since it's a book I am willing to overlook it.
- I loved both Opal and Pepper, their relahionship and the spice was definetly spicing. It's very heartwarming how Opal and Pepper were protective of each other and were helping each other. I also loved secondary characters like Opal's sisters and Pepper's frineds. It's true that for the majority of the book it's just Opal and Pepper, but when secondary characters appear they do it in the best way possible.
- In my personal opnion (without me being an expert on the topic) the representation of grieve and neurodivergency was well done.
- Opal starts as a people pleaser and it's nice to see how she starts to love and value herself. Pepper's jouney to overcome the grief is also an interesting one to follow.

I am a bit conflicted, because whilst I loved this book overall, I found both characters so irritating, it was difficult for me fully enjoy it.

Don't get me wrong, both Opal and Pepper grew on me eventually, and I found them endearing - but still so incredibly aggravating.

Opal starts off a total pushover, with no backbone. It's hinted that she's actually selfless and generous, but at what cost? I found it sad, rather than sweet.

Then Opal suddenly turned into this confident sex Goddess, completely out of the blue, giving me whiplash.

What I can't fault is the chemistry and spice, because that was all amazing, with multiple explicit scenes. I loved Opal and Pepper as a couple, with the whole opposites attract vibe.

I didn't like the confusing and pointless arguments coming out of nowhere, but they were always resolved fairly quickly. Just when I was getting very frustrated, things would turn around nicely.

There was also a lot of insight into both character's neurodiversity, but I found the constant inner monologues a little exhausting and a little too much at times.

I absolutely loved the flower farm setting, but the plot was a little weak, because we barely got to see any of the prep for the competition, and it was all over so quickly.

Pepper was also dealing with the loss of her grandma, and overcoming grief, and that was handled beautifully.

Overall, this is definitely a smoking hot queer romance, I just wish the plot was developed a little more, and for some reason I just could not bring myself to fully like these characters.

I can’t even begin to articulate the pure joy I felt reading Pepper and Opal’s story. The sincerity, character depth and setting (I absolutely adored the flower farm) were just a few of my favourite aspects of this story.

This is my first read by Mazey Eddings and I am eager to go back and read her prior stories as well as silently praying for more Sapphic romances from her and for Opal’s sisters to have their own books too.

Read if you enjoy:
🌸 Sapphic Romance
🌺 Grumpy v Sunshine
🌸 Forced Proximity
🌺 Small Town Setting (Flower Farm)

Favourite quotes:

𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐.

𝑴𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕; 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒚.

𝑶𝒑𝒂𝒍'𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒔.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.25⭑

Tropes;
- grumpy x sunshine
- roommates with benefits
- small town romance
- sapphic romance
- neurodivergent rep
- dual POV

Late Bloomer follows Opal, who has just won the lottery and decides to quit her boring job and buy a flower farm. Upon arrival at her new farm, she discovers that she has been scammed and someone already owns it. Pepper is the grumpy flower farm resident who worked there with her late gran.

Opal and Pepper decide to try and make things work for the two of them by being roommates and getting on with their own lives. But with meddling friends and a forced proximity they decide to try and get their feelings out of their system with a friends with benefits style arrangement.

This was a very cute book. I loved the setting of the flower farm and the spring vibes. I really liked both main characters and enjoyed reading about the friendships with all of the side characters.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the relationship development between main characters and felt like some things were missing in the story. Opal mentions that she creates shoe art on numerous occasions but we never see her do anything like this? I also thought it was odd that we don’t get to see any sort of investigation or justice at the fact that Opal was scammed 300k!!! I mean if I paid someone 300k and learned it was a scam, you’d bet I would look into getting that money back.

Overall, I still liked the book and have always enjoyed Mazey’s work.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Mazey Eddings book (it’s just respectful to start with the gayest one okay) and now all the others are staring at me from the tbr shelves upon which they perch, desperate to be read and loved at some point. And yeah it’s gonna be soon for the rest cause oh my word I loved this!!!

If there is a single bean alive on this earth that doesn’t want to find themselves suddenly thrust into a sapphic romance on a flower farm, are they okay? There is no better scenario I could possibly imagine

Also it’s technically roommates to lovers which I’m unhealthily obsessed with. I mean the whole scenario was perfection - let’s just live together even though we don’t know each other but one of us definitely owns this flower farm so we should both be here to totally not fall for each other!

Basically Pepper and Opal stole my crusty greying heart and returned it to me shiny and actually working. I loved these two.

I loved Opal’s hair disasters, I loved Pepper just being Pepper, I loved every one of Pepper’s friends and Opal’s sisters.
The spicy chapters were outrageously delicious, but it was the many emotional ones that had me wiping away the tears and probably ultimately ruining my kindle which is apparently not waterproof

I could picture the end flower instalment so vividly, and I don’t think I’ve ever not physically seen something before that was so beautiful 🥰

My big sapphic heart is full good day

I LOVE SAPPHIC ROMANCES AND MAZEY EDDINGS CAN HAVE ALL MY MONEY FOR THEIR FUTURE RELEASES. The chemistry, the romance, the plot everything was amazing. It has been a while since I have loved a romance this much. i would recommend it to everyone who is looking for something exciting which is filled with love

3.5 ⭐️ DNF

I got most of the way through this and read the majority in one-sitting, but since I put it down I’ve had no desire to pick it back up. Sadly, I was loving the vibes & the characters were fun, but I just got a bit bored.

This reader stands with #SpeakUpSMP Review will be published once St. Martin Press meets the demands of the boycott. #FreePalestine

This was an absolute dream to read. Opal is probably one of my favourite characters in a romance novel I've read in a long time. She is the quintessential golden retriever character. She's funny, sweet and I loved the spicy side of her. Pepper was a little harder for me to get on board with, she wasn't my favourite at parts, but I adored the dynamic between the two. The setting of the flower farm was genius, my imagination ran wild whilst envisioning the house. Overall a beautiful read

Opal is stuck in a rut, she keeps going back to her toxic ex and her so called best friend uses her every chance she gets. That stops now, she quite literally won the lottery. She put that money to good use getting a dreamy flower farm where she plans on starting up her business. Maybe the deal was too good to be true, once she gets there she meets Pepper who claims to be the rightful owner of the property. Eventually they strike up an agreement to temporarily cohabitate but that won’t be easy as the pair keeps butting heads and argue at every turn.

An absolutely gorgeous setting, representation, extremely likable characters, and a compelling plot what’s not to love. I’m obsessed!!

There is so much representation built into the story. The main characters are obviously part of the LGBTQ+ community and so are a lot of the side characters as well. You’ve got to love that! Mental health, autism as well as dealing with the loss of a loved one is also brought up. Two young women making their way in the world after a rough patch, that’s empowering and inspiring to read about.

There’s something for everyone emotional scenes, moments to lighten the mood and also quite a lot of spice. To make it even better there’s a dual pov, an amazing friend group, the opposites attract trope and so much more. I also have to mention the cover it’s absolutely gorgeous, easily one of my new favorites.

Can’t recommend it enough, this is a must read I my opinion!

was it a little cringe? yes. was the couple cute? yep! did i enjoy the book? not really.
don’t get me wrong: i’m sure this book will be a hit with lots of people! unfortunately it didn’t work for me and i wasn’t really invested in the main characters to really enjoy the reading experience :(
but it does what it promises: a lighthearted romcom with some spice and cute girls.

a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc!

📚 r e v i e w 📚
late bloomer - mazey eddings

you know when you finally found the exact book you’ve been looking for? i found it with late bloomer!
if you’re on the hunt for a sweet, sapphic romance this spring this has to be on your radar. was it a little cliched? was it a little cheesy? yes. but that is just part of its charm!
meet opal, the bookish equivalent of a golden retriever and pepper… the bookish equivalent of one of those pups that look perpetually grumpy but are actually super soft. if the grumpy/sunshine wasn’t enough, we also get forced proximity in the form
of a flower farm opal accidentally buys not realising it’s pepper’s home. what transpires is super sweet, occasionally heart breaking, full of banter and relatable moments. all that and more substance than you would normally expect from a romance - plus it has neurodiversity rep!

if you pick up one romance this spring make it this delightful story! late bloomer is out 16th april. thank you @netgalley for the
early copy!
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#bookworm #bookblogging #bookblogger #fiction #readerlife #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bibliophilelife #bookstagram #reading #bookstagrammer #booklover #booksbooksbooks #bookreview

‘Late Bloomer’ by Mazey Eddings is a gorgeous romance novel which follows Opal and Pepper as their relationship blooms from a rocky start (I love a good enemies-to-lovers tale and I read in the author’s note that the book was almost called ‘Anemones to Lovers’ which made me giggle!)

At the start of the book, Opal is stuck in a dead-end job which requires her to don a waffle costume, an unfulfilling on-off relationship with selfish Miles, and an unequal friendship with user-extraordinaire Laney. Though she has two amazing sisters who care, she feels lonely and directionless until she wins half a million dollars on a scratchcard and decides to plant the seeds of a new life. Unfortunately when she arrives to move in toaa Thistle and Bloom flower farm with the newly purchased deeds in hand, she meets a woman who is already living there: a stunningly beautiful, totally closed-off woman called Pepper who might just destroy her fresh start… or break her heart.

Opal and Pepper were both layered and loveable characters and I enjoyed the dual POV structure of this book. I appreciated how Pepper’s autism impacted her without defining her and related to Opal’s feelings of not being enough for anyone. Once they opened up to each other, I adored their witty banter and their affirmative, lyrical and sensual dialogue in their intimate scenes.

I also loved:
- Opal’s sisters - the beautifully named Olivia and Ophelia - were unconditionally there for Opal in a truly heartwarming way
- Pepper’s friends - they were supportive superstars and represented what friendship should look like
- All the references to flowers which formed a bright and wonderful collage in my mind
- I want a pair of Opal’s painted shoes!!!

I’m never a huge fan of a third-act break-up and I think the last 15% of the book felt a little rushed, but giving this a solid four stars

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Headline Eternal via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Such a cute, queer romance. Opal wins the lottery and uses the opportunity to follow her dreams and spend her money on a failing flower farm in North Carolina. She likes to paint and hopes that she can start her painting business here. Her planned isolation is soon interrupted by the previous owner of the farm, Pepper, and she isnt taking this sale lying down! They cohabitate and what starts as dislike and arguing soon turns to a blooming (!) romance between the two.

Loved the sizzle and fire of this couple. Well done Mazey!

3.25 stars

I've read Mazey's other books and while this one was nice, it wasn't a new favourite. I really loved the flower farm setting, and I liked Pepper and Opal (and their emotional journeys) but I think I needed more scenes of them hanging out, just being friends and doing fun things together (more like the birthday party-esque scenes), to really love the book.

I think you could really love this if you love the books in the Delilah Green/Astrid Parker series.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for an arc to review!

Thank you NetGalley for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute, funny and spicy sapphic read! I loved the neurodivergence representation with Opal and Pepper. I loved the way the author wrote the grief that Pepper experienced throughout this book. I really liked the speed of the romance between Opal and Pepper was going, it took a while for them to realise that they were attracted to each other and then to act on it, that really made me invested in them throughout the story

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Late Bloomer' by Mazey Eddings.

I've read a book written by Mazey Eddings before so when I recieved this ARC I was so excited. Sadly this fell flat for me and I honestly can't work out why. Eddings has such a cool writing style and I really did enjoy the beginning and end of this novel but the middle just kept losing my interest so I can't rate it higher than a 3 due to that.

Queer, neurodivergent women falling in love on a flower farm. I think this book might have been specifically designed just for me.
I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of ‘Late Bloomer’ by Mazey Eddings, one of my most anticipated books of the year by one of my favourite authors. It is a tender, hopeful story that is full of hilarity whilst remaining soft and sentimental. And there is sex in a greenhouse!

The sub-plots about the farm, Pepper’s grief, and Opal’s growing confidence create a complete and absorbing world whilst allowing the romance story to shine. Eddings’s writing is so emotionally strong; I always feel wrapped up in the feelings of each character. On a personal level, I was incredibly moved by Pepper in whom I saw both some of the most difficult and best parts of myself.

The writing is accessible, making the book easy to read, and still absolutely beautiful. I think that some of the references and language will date quite quickly, although I actually really liked how rooted in the 2020s it felt. There is some miscommunication between the protagonists Opal and Pepper - the perfect amount to create tension without being frustrating and leading to utterly exquisite pining that Iadored basking in.

I love the way Mazey Eddings writes neurodivergent characters. Pepper and Opal’s neurodivergences make them at times difficult and annoying but Eddings is clear that they are no less loveable for this. I tend to be quite sceptical and picky about disability representation in romance but ‘Late Bloomer’ portrays the characters’ disabilities as actually disabling them, without making the book About Disability.

It probably goes without saying by this point, but I cannot recommend ‘Late Bloomer’ enough.

I loved the relationship between Opal and Pepper, this made the book so easy and delightful to read overall. Definitely recommended.

3 stars - a cute grumpy/sunshine contemporary romance with Hallmark movie energy.

I've never read a Mazey Eddings book before but I loved her writing style and will definitely check out her other work! Opal and Pepper were both intriguing characters and I enjoyed seeing their different approaches to life and learning about their ways of thinking. The flower farm was a beautiful setting and definitely added to the story.

Although the book is written from both Opal and Pepper's POVs, they felt very similar and were hard to distinguish when reading. I also found many of the side characters were hardly fleshed out at all and didn't feel like real people. I would have liked the romance to be a little slower as it felt quite sudden, and the main conflict stemmed from communication issues, which I find a little frustrating.

Overall a fun, easy romance read - thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the arc!