Charming! 
 A really pretty, at times dark, story that is often compared to Cinderella, but really has very little in common with the aforementioned fairytale, save that there is a prince and a ball, and I guess you could call the "Amaranth Witch" a fairy godmother... 
 Basically, a young girl named Lucinda had her parents die when she was five, and she was adopted by a kind uncle who remarries an abusive shrew of a woman. This new "aunt" takes a great deal of pleasure in beating Lucinda for whatever displeases her (basically, anything she pulls out of her rear for an excuse to wallop her niece). 
 Herein lies an interesting/surprising aspect of this book: It's a young teens/preteens novel that's not the least bit afraid to go dark. It's never vulgar, even going out of its way not to be too "sexual" by having Lucinda tell a man who crawls into her bed that she will not "kiss" him, as opposed to the way a book for older teens would probably flat out imply she thought he wanted to sleep with her. Yet there's a lot of blood (in flashbacks as well as in the climax of the book) and bruises that are results of domestic abuse. 
 This is a book that doesn't sugarcoat that yes, if you get smacked constantly, there are going to be bruises on your face. If you fall out of a carriage to your doom, your corpse is gonna be messy! 
 In short, it strikes a good balance between dark and appropriate, and I respect that heartily! 
 So, anyway, Lucinda's life changes forever when she meets a childhood friend (who has grown into a handsome prince), a so-called witch, and a cheeky beggar who never shuts up, all in one day. After her uncle dies, her quest becomes, more or less all about these three persons and solving the mystery of her parents' deaths. 
 To this book's credit, all the elements fit together really well. All the characters connect in wonderful, sometimes unexpected, ways. Beryl (the "witch") turns out not only to be living in Lucinda's childhood home, but also to have some dark, sad secrets about her aunt's past as well. The beggar, Peter, turns out to be more than what he seems, and Lucinda's prince has a part to play too. 
 However, I have to admit, the prince was part of my problem with the book the first time I read it. I didn't WANT Lucinda to end up with him. There was nothing WRONG with the guy per-say, and he's awfully nice, you CAN sort of see why Lucinda would like him, but she goes through so much growth in the course of the novel and really doesn't spend much time with the prince in the long run. That they were childhood friends was sweet, but that's about all they have going for them. And, frankly, our dear prince was much more interesting in childhood flashbacks, where he was more flawed and goofy, than as a grown man who really does come across as introverted, not only to the other characters, but to the reader as well. 
 It's okay to have an introverted character, of course, perfectly so, but we still need to be able to get into their head a bit. Either give them a POV or let the person whose POV we do get find out a bit more about them and share this info with us readers. 
 For example, years back, being rather an introverted person myself, I actually had a teenage literary crush on an overtly introverted character (I'll give you a hint: East). In fact, after my mother read the book, curious as to my adoration of the character, she replied, "Gosh, he's a little too quiet, isn't he?" Yet, in the case of said character, quiet or not, we get into his head, we find out WHO he really is, and there are no scenes where the more flamboyant characters outshine him and make him seem dull. 
 That is not the case in "The Amaranth Enchantment" We never really get into the prince's heart (or even head). We like him because he's NICE and Lucinda, the character we're all rooting for, likes him. Unfortunately, Peter is a much more expressive character and OFTEN outshines the prince. Furthermore, he and Lucinda have great chemistry throughout the story. We see them interact, struggle to work together, and even become something like friends. 
 So how could I not hope for them to end up together? 
 Sadly, no, she gets the prince, who gets out of his engagement (I won't spoil it here by saying how). 
 When you read the story with an open mind and accept that shipping Lucinda/Peter will only bring you pain, it's really a wonderful book, but otherwise you'll find bitter disappointment between these pages.