The Adventures of Miss Upton and the Sky Pirate : C.J. Archer

Tilda Upton's talent at finding things with the aid of a talisman puts her on the edge of the dangerous hellhag category. Rather inexperienced in using her magic, she's prone to mistakes. It is one such mistake that lands her in debt to the Chief Royal Inventor who blackmails her into retrieving an Oriental and his machine. But to find the Oriental she needs to intercept an airship and the best way to do that is through piracy.

Tilda turns to the notorious Black Jack Knight, a sky pirate known for his cruelty and cleverness who dislikes passengers, particularly of the female variety. Fortunately for Tilda he accepts a currency she can provide—the location of a man who witnessed his brother's murder, a murder which Jack was falsely accused of committing. Together they fight corsairs, a mad inventor and their growing attraction to each other in order to retrieve the man Tilda has been forced to find, only to learn his machine could destroy her and everyone like her.
Good Reads Summary



The first thing the reader will notice is that it takes awhile to truly get into the book.  The plot is ok, not terrific, but not bad.  The characters are fun to read about.  The reader will not necessarily like either of them-at times the heroine may appear a little bratty and the hero will treat her too badly ( for the reader's taste).  The book has the typical heroine slowly falling for the hero outlook.  As long as the reader doesn't take the characters too seriously, he/she should enjoy this novel.  The action is there, the events are fast-paced, there is not too much detail (just enough), and the characters have interesting personalities.  The reader will enjoy reading about their adventures and their dialogue-more than entertaining enough to keep the pages turning.  This novel is terrific for adults who enjoy romance taken to the dramatic side.