Late Bloomer
Ratings12
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings12
Average rating3.8
A sexy, sapphic, opposites-attract romance with Mazey Eddings' signature sparkling voice!
Winning the lottery has ruined Opal Devlin's life. After quitting her dead-end job where she’d earned minimum wage and even less respect, 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 Boden 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?
Reviews with the most likes.
This book has:
- given me the dream to own a flower farm
- good rep
- decent amount of spice
- miscommunication (why??)
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PUB DATE: April 16th 2024
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC audiobook copy of Late Bloomer! Here is my honest review.
Late Bloomer was such a fun and cozy low stakes romance! It's grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, there's queer and lesbian representation, as well as autism and nuerodivergent representation!
Words genuinely cannot explain how much I LOVED the neurodivergent representation in this book as a queer autistic person myself! I felt myself really relating to Pepper specifically and honestly she may be my favorite character in this entire book!
This book was a little cringey and cheesy at times, but regardless, I ate it up! I'm almost positive that this audio production made me love the book EVEN MORE! I love how truly southern some of the characters accents are, and the Narrator did a great job at bringing this novel to life!
I will say, this book made me realize how much I don't care about flower farms, or flower competitions, or flowers in general. So when anything of the sort came up I was a little bored, but not to the point where it was unbearable.
The romance between Pepper and Opal was so extremely cute! I did at times feel like there wasn't much chemistry between them, and I found their banter to be somewhat awkward, but by the end of the book I was absolutely in love with both of them and their dynamic!
If you're looking for a sapphic, cute and cheesy, cozy romance, Late Bloomer is definitely the book for you! The nuerodivergent rep was probably my favorite aspect of this book by far. Such a nice read!
This book is like a warm hug on a breezy spring day. Opal and Pepper stole my heart with their authentic portrayal and relatable quirks. What struck me most was the refreshing neurodivergent representation woven seamlessly into the narrative. The candid conversations they shared about grief and trauma added layers of depth to the story.
While Opal and Pepper shone brightly, some of the side characters felt a bit flat, veering towards caricature rather than complexity, which occasionally tipped the scales towards cheesiness. Nonetheless, familiar tropes like grumpy-sunshine and forced proximity added to the charm.
Ellie Gossage deserves a round of applause for her stellar narration, breathing life into each character with a special flair. And can we take a moment to gush over that cover? It's an absolute stunner!
Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to dive into this gem.
CAWPILE
Characters - 9
Atmosphere - 8
Writing - 8
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 6
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 9
