Dig in to this middle-grade fantasy featuring a horticulturally minded princess, a beautiful butevil witch, and a magpie with a shameful secret.

Princess Adela is not a typical princess. She’s neither particularly beautiful nor particularly graceful, and she’d rather spend her days digging new plots for her garden than listening to teatime gossip. But when her friend Garth is invited to a garden party hosted by Lady Hortensia — whose beauty is said to be rivaled only by the loveliness of her gardens — Adela can’t resist coming along, even if it means stuffing herself into a too-tight dress and donning impractical shoes. But the moment Adela sets eyes on Hortensia’s garden, she knows something is amiss. Every single flower is in bloom — in the middle of October! Not only that, there is a talking magpie flitting about the garden and stealing the guests’ jewels. Is it possible that Hortensia is a witch and the magpie an enchanted prince? And what of the flowers themselves? Will Adela get to the root of the mystery and nip trouble in the bud before it’s too late?–Description from Goodreads

Garden Princess is a wonderfully refreshing twist on the typical princess story. The main character is not perfect as all princesses tend to be. She is not over the top beautiful, nor is she particularly graceful. She can be stubborn, outspoken and a variety of other things that made me love her. She is low maintenance and proud to be exactly who she is.

This book reminded me of the simple, elegant classics of the past, but with a more updated and modern feel. The characters are sassy and the relationships they develop during the story are the type that you expect to last. I feel rewarded when the characters seem to be working toward a strong finish and in this book, they did.

What made me love this book so much, was the descriptive language of the author. She was able to set the stage for a truly magical story without ever boring me with an overload of pointless banter. The imagery that she produces with her words made me want to keep reading this forever. I could see the flowers and hear the material of the dresses crinkling.

This is a book that I could see a younger or older audience enjoying. There is romance, magic, animals, mystery and laughs to be discovered in these pages. If you love fantasy and magic you can’t miss this one.