New Book: Night Watch

This week I am welcoming Mary Montague Sikes to the blog to talk about her book, Night Watch!

"What has Lily "walked" into...? From the moment Lily's plane lands in tropical Trinidad, things go awry. She planned for rest, relaxation and photography, but instead faces mistaken identity, a gun running operation and danger. Her transportation to her lodging does a no show, and she is mistaken for someone named Katherine by Kyle Warren. Putting the unsettling feelings of her trip and recent deaths of her parents behind her, Lily enjoys the ocean view from her room only to see the familiar figure of the man from the airport-he is watching men stealthily unloading cargo from a small boat. Over the next few days, Lily's resemblance to another puts her in danger and Kyle's attempts to protect her further complicate the uncanny memories and feelings that she may indeed know him from the past. With her life in peril, Lily discovers a deep kinship with her doppelganger and a growing attachment to Kyle." 

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

Mary Montague Sikes is a native Virginian who grew up in the historic city of Fredericksburg in the shadow of Civil War battlefields near the boyhood home of George Washington. Motivated by her surroundings, she started writing and painting at an early age. In high school she developed a fascination for the works of Edgar Allen Poe and was inspired to create short stories.  Always intrigued by far-away places, as an adult she began traveling and writing about her journeys to exotic locations. 

Her first novel, Hearts Across Forever, is set in Jamaica and relates to the legend of the white witch of Rose Hall.  Using both her writing and her artistic skills, Sikes next wrote and illustrated a coffee table book, Hotels to Remember,  that features many historic and memorable hotels she has visited and loved.  Her current "Snapshot in Time" series of small books has stories, photos, paintings, and updates from Hotels to Remember .

As the Passenger to Paradise, Sikes uses many of her travel destinations as settings for her books. Jungle Jeopardy, the fifth novel in the series, is an adventure set among the Maya ruins of Central America.  This story is a sequel to Secrets by the Sea, continuing the escapades of Dana and Clifton. Located in Trinidad, Night Watch, another book in the series, is a story of peril and rediscovery. Set in beautiful and mysterious Sedona, Arizona, Eagle Rising begins with a tragic loss that leads to life changing events and a reawakening.

Dangerous Hearts, an e-book linked to the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, is a mystery story and romance with the gothic element of a foreboding old house. A Rainbow at Christmas takes place in 1869 on a wagon train traveling from Missouri to Denver. Daddy's Christmas Angel is a story for all seasons that was inspired by Sleepless in Seattle, a movie she loves.

Sikes’s paintings, a poem, and an essay were selected for inclusion in the National League of American Pen Women’s anthology, Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln.  The book was the honored recipient of the George Washington Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, PA

An award-winning professional artist with a MFA in painting, Sikes teaches art classes to students of all levels. Besides her interest in painting, she plays tennis, follows baseball, takes yoga and step aerobics classes, and enjoys her family of three adult daughters.  She and her husband reside in the Tidewater area of Virginia.

Connect with Mary at: 

http://marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com

www.marymontaguesikes.com  

monti7olen@verizon.net

https://www.facebook.com/MaryMontagueSikes2

https://twitter.com/marymontague7