I underwent quiet the internal debate as to whether to give this 3 stars or 4. In the end, I felt it just didn't live up to 4, so 3 it is. 
 The story was interesting, I liked the character of Beauty (and I liked the two sisters - I felt that the interweaving of their stories with Beauty's was very well handled), and it was obvious that the author was very passionate about her subject: gardening. 
 So why 3 and not 4 stars? 
 Well, I found the first 25% or so of the novel really tough going. The first chapter in particular was so disjointed that I was toying with the thought of giving up on the book. It improved vastly after that but I still got the impression that even the author didn't know where she was going with the story. 
 The reader is never presented with an adequate explanation at the end as to all the machinations of the magic surrounding the castle, or just what the monster of Beauty's dreams (and the Beast's as well) is. The ending seemed very rushed, like the author had said all she had to say about flowers and roses and had just had enough. It left me feeling very unfulfilled. 
 And finally, the author has a tendency to write in long sprawling sentences, using a multitude of commas. This made for very difficult reading at times and more than once I found myself having to go back and reread the last few lines, and sometimes even the last few paragraphs. It was not a writing style that I really appreciated. 
 All in all, ok verging on good.