Summers at Castle Auburn is just plain fun to read.  I'm generally not a fan of books that focus on medieval politics, but this one does it from a very fun premise.  The protagonist is a royal bastard girl who is brought into the castle and courtly life as a young teenager.  Normally, I tend to dislike books where the reader knows more about events than the characters do, however, the disconnect between my understanding of political maneuverings  and the understanding of a fourteen year-old girl is so wide that I found myself laughing out loud at several points.

 Though this is a fairly stereotypical coming-of-age romance, it was well written enough to be enjoyable.  Also, while it was often predictable, it was still fun to see the characters slowly come to realize what I did.  I did not feel as though the characters were being pulled through the story, more like they were slowly coming to terms with their own feelings and their associated destinies.

The world is lightly-defined and the magical realms are hardly explored at all, so that left me wanting.  However, since this is mostly a story about character, not place, I was able to let that go and enjoy the ride.  Though it's not exactly literature-quality, it's most certainly not fluff either.  If you just need an enjoyable read, I recommend it.