I build my house up on this rock, baby, every day with you: LATE BLOOMER.

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I adore a good sapphic romance, but I cannot handle miscommunications and bad decision-making. So LATE BLOOMER was a bit of a draw for me. Opal has a history of not standing up for herself and making a mess of her life. She's known for her impulsivity--best displayed when she wins the lottery and buys a farm, sight unseen. When she arrives, she finds Pepper living there. Unbeknownst to Pepper, her mom sold the flower farm, which belonged to Pepper's late grandmother, out from under her.

Now, here's where most logical people would turn to crazy things like lawyers and wills and deeds, right? But no, Pepper and Opal make the only rational decision: they will live together on said farm, in the same house, while they figure things out and Pepper determines a way to make the floral business profitable and buy out Opal.

As they do, the two yo-yo through emotions like no one's business. We're up, we're down, we're up again! I could not keep up. We're talking, we're hiding things, we're lying, we're being honest. Sure, Pepper has trust issues thanks to her con artist mom (exhibit A: sells farm where daughter is living), but does she have to dislike Opal simply because she's kind? As for Opal, girl, take your deed to a lawyer and stop all this insanity and pining. Because, of course, our girls are alternatively hating each other and wanting to take one another's pants off. There's no character development leading up to any of this.

Over the course of the story, Pepper and Opal did grow on me. (Though, please, just look through your documents when a relative passes away!) I enjoyed how neurodiverse friendly this tale was, and it covered autism and ADHD rather thoughtfully. It's bi-friendly and practically every character is queer in some way--hurrah! Eddings delves into themes of finding yourself, being worthy of love, and having what you deserve in life. This is a cute story, even if the characters are a little thin and the plot a bit frustrating at times. 3.25 stars.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin in return for an unbiased review.


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