The Amaranth Enchantment

Recommended for 12+ (for an abusive family relationship)
3/5 Stars
2.5/5 on the Happiness Meter
Genre: Fantasy

Lucinda Chapdelaine used to be a happy child with a bright future but all that disappeared when her parents died in a freak carriage accident. Sent to live with her uncle and his second wife, Lucinda leaves her comfortable life as a noble to serve as a maid in her relatives' shop. Her uncle is kind to her but his domineering wife does all she can to make Lucinda miserable. One day, a mysterious woman steps into the shop wanting an enormous jewel reset. It seems too good to be true, which in fact it is. As soon as the aunt realizes that the woman is the Amaranth Witch she refuses to allow her husband to reset the jewel for her and demands that Lucinda return the stone. Of course, simple tasks are never simple in books and Lucinda ends up losing the jewel to an impish street thief. In order to recover the stone, she dances with the very handsome crown prince and, predictably enough, falls in love with him. Enter magic, a large royal ball, an arranged marriage, and an otherwordly realm and you have The Amaranth Enchantment.

I wanted to like this book, in fact, I had high hopes for it after reading the first few chapters. Sure, it was going to be a bit stereotypical, you could see that after the first meeting of the prince and Lucinda as she fell instantly in love with him. However, there is nothing wrong with a conventional strong-maiden/magic filled novel as long as it is done correctly. It wasn't that The Amaranth Enchantment was terrible, it wasn't, it just wasn't that impressive. The impish street thief that steals the jewel from Lucinda is, in my opinion, not a very sympathetic character; he's downright annoying. The twist at the end of the novel involving him is rather a deus ex machina. You find yourself thinking, "Really? Was that necessary?" by the end of the book. The relationship between Lucinda and the prince is OK if a bit melodramatic. The villian is also a little unbelievable. It's really the Amaranth Witch that separates this novel from others in the spunky heroine genre. Her background is intriguing and her great sorrow is moving. I wish the author had spent more time developing that aspect of the plot. I gave this book 3/5 stars because the writing is not bad and it does have some unique concepts surrounding the Amaranth witch, however, I won't be reading it again.