I think I know what you mean about Princess Academy being somewhat mechanical. I enjoyed reading those books, but they sound like something I should have liked more.

That Lass O’Lowrie’s sounds interesting! My experience of Frances Hodgson Burnett is limited to reading The Secret Garden countless times, reading A Little Princess once (I didn't own a copy), and reading about Little Lord Fauntleroy in Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea.