Clementine by Cherie Priest

Summary from GoodReads:

Maria Isabella Boyd’s success as a Confederate spy has made her too famous for further espionage work, and now her employment options are slim. Exiled, widowed, and on the brink of poverty…she reluctantly goes to work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Chicago.

Adding insult to injury, her first big assignment is commissioned by the Union Army. In short, a federally sponsored transport dirigible is being violently pursued across the Rockies and Uncle Sam isn’t pleased. The Clementine is carrying a top secret load of military essentials—essentials which must be delivered to Louisville, Kentucky, without delay.

My Review:

I’m so in love with Cherie Priests writing.  Clementine was, I think, one of the best of the bunch when it comes to the Clockwork Century novels.  I loved, loved, loved this book.  The adventure, the characters, the dirigibles, the tension and suspense – it had it all in spades and it was such a short little story!  Too short!

Maria is, hands down, one of my favorite women out of all the books I’ve read this year.  Spunky, independent, brash, smart and witty, she made me laugh and cheer her on as she set off to capture the irrepressible Captain Heaney.  Between both characters, Priest managed to spotlight both women and African-Americans in a way that did both proud.

Because, y’all, Captain Heaney is a smart, well-thought-out, very developed character that had me rooting for him from the first moment he stepped onto the page.  I couldn’t make up my mind which side I wanted to be on, because I thought it was going to come down to that!  And perhaps it did… so I guess you ought to read the book and find out.

I’d been wanting to get my hands on a hard copy of Clementine, but finally had to give up seeing as a limited number had been printed, but thankfully it is available on the Kindle.  The only part about this book that I do not like though is not being able to proudly place it next to my other Clockwork Century novels.  The cover is amazing, the story even better and I cannot wait to get lost in the next book in the series, Ganymede.

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