Have you thought about giving the
other deposed princess series another try? It's got some really solid character development, and people don't seem to be comparing it to previous shoujo fantasy series anymore. On the other hand, I do have to admit it's rather slow paced.
On another note, where does your account name come from? "Kazu-kun" makes me think of Akane's boyfriend in Mai-HiME, but I rather doubt you'd have named yourself after a character whose main contribution to a story is vanishing for two thirds of it.