Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliasotti

Fantasy/Suspense/Romance
ISBN: 978-0-8095-7256-4
392 pages, $6.99
Publication Date: March 2008

Here's the hook:
Flight is freedom--
but death hangs in the skies

Here's the blurb:

Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus, a courier privileged to travel freely across city's sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she cannot outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on Ondinium's governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in the lowest sector of the city. Both hide dangerous secrets, in the city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart...

Reviews:

Clockwork Heart is one of the most enjoyable fantasies I have read in a long time; I didn't want the book to end. Clockwork Heart has everything you might want in a book-a strong girl hero, romance, intrigue, mystery, suspense, great humor, believable characters, strong writing, all in a fantasy setting....Clockwork Heart has just the right mix of fantasy and romance, with sprinkles of mystery and intrigue. There is so much to enjoy, here. For an entertaining, absorbing read, one you won't want to end, pick this book up. Clockwork Heart is the best YA fantasy-the best book-I have read in a long time."--

http://www.cherylrainfield.com/teen-book-review_clockwork-heart.html

"...a fascinating, fast-paced and delightful novel in Clockwork Heart. The setting is intriguing and unique, melding the best of steampunk with the wonders of high fantasy, and is peopled with a rich blend of characters from all walks of life...Pagliasotti has brought forth a terrific novel, one that embodies a bold new direction in the fantasy genre. For those who enjoy the work of China Mieville or D.M. Cornish, here is another name to seek out on the bookshelves."--

http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=7057