Rejection

My submitted story, A Reason for Rescue, to Wild Rose has been rejected.  Initially, I thought my editor was going to recommend a contract and thought my writing was one of my best efforts thus far.  Today, I received the rejection email finding many faults with it.  The novel was submitted to "readers" and they found all sorts of problems.  It is counterproductive of me to reply to those points as the readers take on submissions are accepted without question. One thing I did make a point of  in my reply was that my research and details of foreign lands could not be faulted.
It seems my characters are wooden and flat but also overdramatized.  I don't understand how they can be one thing and also another.
I'll concentrate on my two new stories, not knowing now where I'll submit either one.