Review: Night Watch

Lily needs to get away from her life, from the deaths of her parents and infidelity of her fiancee. All she wants is to relax, photograph Trinidad, and start a new career that will hopefully bring her life into focus. Being mistaken for someone else and attracting the interest of the mysterious resort manager and a group of dangerous men wasn't on the agenda. Making it home from her vacation alive suddenly becomes her top priority. 

The idea of being mistaken for someone in the middle of a dangerous plot is something that has been used in literature and film before, but Sikes brought many new elements into this idea to make it unique. Lily's backstory, for one, was different than what I have seen used before. There is mystery introduced when readers are told that there are certain events prior to Lily's trip that she does not remember due to a traumatic event. It makes readers question Lily's own memories, and in turn question what her story truly is. Sikes gives Lily a reasonable, yet deeply personal reason for taking the trip. The backstory helped me connect with Lily as a character. 

Another main character was Kyle Warren, the mysterious manager at the resort Lily is visiting. The reader gets to see Kyle both through Lily's eyes and through his own point of view. When reading Kyle's point of view his consternation over lingering feelings for Katherine, the woman he originally mistook Lily for, and developing passion of Lily was compelling. Readers can connect with his confusion about his feelings and concern about Lily's safety, hoping that he will find a way to work everything out. I enjoyed his role in this book quite a bit. 

When reading through Lily's point of view I had a slightly more difficult time. Kyle acts very suspiciously throughout the book. He does not share the reasons with Lily, as that would have ruined the surprises, but he instead distracted her or brushed off her concerns. My frustration came from the fact that Lily often let herself be distracted or talked out of her concerns very easily. The explanations Kyle offered at times seemed quite weak and I found myself annoyed that Lily accepted them. If felt she should have shown more strength when dealing with the strangeness around her. 

Overall, this was a fun and entertaining book. I enjoyed the mystery as well as the romance between Kyle and Lily, although there is a sex scene toward the end that is fairly descriptive and not appropriate for younger readers. My only other complaint about the book was that I expected the ending to be a little more climactic. Lily is kidnapped at one point, and the events surrounding that were exciting, and I expected that to continue until everything was resolved. Instead, it ended rather abruptly and focused more on the romance than concluding the action. Having said that, I did still enjoy the book and would found the setting, characters, and mystery to be entertaining and fun. 

Night Watch is available now from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.