Mob Knight by Sabine Barclay X: @Bookgal Instagram: @therealbookgal Blog Tour!

 Synopsis (from Amazon):

How did I get so lucky?

She shouldn't have been there.

She shouldn't have tried to protect me.

Now I'll move Heaven and Earth to keep her safe.

I'll be her knight in shining armor.

Stand in my way, and you'll breathe your last.

Nothing will stop me from seeing that smile when she's in my arms.

There's more to life than pleasure, but I'll give her more than she dreamed.

She's my light after the darkest night.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Cormac

How did I get so lucky? She shouldn’t have been there. She shouldn’t have tried to protect me. She stepped in the line of fire and didn’t even know me. That’s the kind of woman she is. But she’s stubborn too. It surprises us to discover we enjoy her submitting to my demands when no one’s watching. Nothing will stop me from seeing that smile when she’s in my arms. I’ll be her knight in shining armor. She’s my light after the darkest night.

Joey

No good deed goes unpunished. I didn’t think before I acted. Now I’m fighting my attraction to a man I should avoid. I keep families together. He tears them apart.

But he’s so much more than I expected. This New York Irish mobster might be ruthless with everyone else, but I see the man he only shares with his family. He lets me, and I won’t walk away. When outsiders try to drag me away, I know he’ll move Heaven and Earth to save me.

There’s more to life than pleasure, but he gives me more than I ever imagined.

Series information:

Mob Knight is an interconnecting, standalone Dark Mafia Romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger. It contains EXTRA-STEAMY scenes that will make your toes curl and your granny blush.

The O'Rourke Brotherhood is a six-book series that’ll keep you warm at night. Mob Knight is book six in the series.

Discover the four NYC rival families that make up The Syndicate Wars world. Each family has their turn to be heroes in their own series. When it’s not their family’s turn for love, discover whether they’re the villain.

You’ll meet all 24 men of the Four Families throughout the interconnected series, each taking their turn to fall in love. By the end, you’ll have a love/hate relationship with them all.

The Ivankov Brotherhood

The Mancinelli Brotherhood

The O’Rourke Brotherhood

The Cartel Brotherhood

Author bio

Sabine Barclay a nom de plume also writing Historical Romance as Celeste Barclay, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. She loves her days at the beach soaking up way too much sun, a good Netflix binge, and a strong hot chai.

Her heroines are independent women who can defend themselves but love their Alpha heroes who want nothing more than to protect their soulmates in her Mafia Romances.

She's Gen Y/Oregon Trail and loves creating engrossing contemporary romances that will make your toes curl and your granny blush.

Website

https://www.sabinebarclay.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SabineBarclayAuthor

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sabinebarclayauthor/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sabinebarclayauthor

Amazon

http://amzn.to/4gd7yJQ

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220296765-mob-knight

On writing

How did you do research for your book?

I spend a lot of time researching my Contemporary Mafia romances that I write as Sabine Barclay and my Historical Romances that I write as Celeste Barclay. I begin with a google search of whatever I need, then I hop around from there. I research names, dates, places, etymology, songs, poems, prayers, oaths, events, medieval forms of measurement, medieval homeopathic/plant remedies, anatomy, and weapons. All sorts of things. Then I decide what I want to incorporate into the story and what I tuck away in my memory for general knowledge.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

One story leads to another leads to another. Usually, there’s something I come up with in a story that plants the seed for the next one or a future one. Sometimes I merely think about what I haven’t written before or haven’t written in a while. It might be something I see on TV or while people watching. It might be something I read that I want to put my spin on.

There are many dark romance books out there. What makes yours different?

I love dark romance, but my natural storytelling style is deep shades of dark gray. Every book I write, Mafia and Historical, centers upon family. It could be blood or found. It’s always about love, loyalty, honor, and duty. Those are important values to me as a person, and it comes out in my writing. My Mafia books have dark plots, dark settings, dark backstories, but the relationship between the main couple is one of respect. My heroines are nobody’s fool and pretty kickass. Both MCs just know they’re better together than apart. With big families and a relationship of equals, there are moments of humor or levity interspersed with the darkness. I write stories that make you feel like you’re walking alongside the characters, not just being a fly on the wall.

What advice would you give budding writers?

No matter how great you think your story is, there’s always room for improvement. What makes sense to you may not make sense to others. Take time to get feedback, and it’s not a personal slight if someone doesn’t care for your book. You can’t please all the people all the time. At best, you can please some of the people some of the time. Find the readers who want to read you, and find the authors who you can network with. Build a village of readers and writers.

Your book is set in New York City. Have you ever been there?

The majority of each book is set in NYC. There are four rival Mafia families, so there are four series in what I call The Syndicate Wars world. You meet the men who take turns as heroes and villains throughout each series, so I keep most of each story in one place. I’ve been to NYC many times and love it. I just wouldn’t live there. Sorry, New Yorkers, but it smells funny.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing creatively since Aug of 2017. I had a few months off, then finished my first book in Feb 2018 and published it on April 15, 2018. Better to celebrate that than Tax Day. Before that, I wrote a lot of academic and professional work. I didn’t know how much I would love storytelling until I started doing it. My imagination is a fabulous place to be.

Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps you overcome it?

Knock on wood, I haven’t gotten it. I think that’s because I’m an immersive or binge writer. When I start a story, I write most days until it’s done. It keeps me in the flow and makes it easier for one idea to germinate into another. If I get stuck, I switch to handwriting rather than typing. Just having another means to put my thoughts onto the page usually helps me move past the speed bump.

What is your next project?

I’m writing the first book, Cartel King, in the last series in The Syndicate Wars world, The Cartel Brotherhood. People have been meeting members of the Colombian Cartel for the past three series. They’ve had their turns at being villains. Now it’s their chance for redemption. The series kicks off with Enrique Diaz, the leader in NYC, with Cartel King. There will be six books just like in the previous three series. I’m already thinking about the next world I’m creating. That’ll take place in Boston and will launch in 2026. This year is the year of the Cartel. I’ve already had the American branches of the Russian bratva, the Italian Mafia, and the Irish mob. 

What genre do you write and why?

I began in Historical Romance and still write mostly Highlanders when I’m writing Hist Rom. I was a history teacher for years, and I love falling back in time. I love writing about independent women and the men who love them. I love the battles and clan politics based on real events. I love that it’s so far in the past that maybe I could have been that heroine. I don’t have to worry about my everyday real life. No thinking about oil changes or mortgages or electricity bills. I can be free to have an imaginary life. When I read a Hist Rom author friend’s Mafia book, I was hooked. Mafia Romance is Medieval Romance today. If you love swords and kilts, you can love guns and suits. If you love guns and suits, you can love swords and kilts. They are based on the exact same things: rivalries, protecting those you love and who rely on you, vengeance for wrongs, getting away with things you can’t in real life. It was a natural progression to write Mafia after writing Historicals for many years.

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?

I feel like I’m part of your characters’ families. I know them like they’re real, and I feel like I’m in the story not just reading the story.

What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing your book?

The biggest reward is offering escapism and entertainment to others. That’s what I get from writing, and that’s what I want to offer readers. The biggest challenge is juggling all the things that go along with being a professional author.

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like?

Bumpy. I suppose I can say more than a word, so it has had high and lows that have taught me how to adapt to keep loving what I do.

Which authors inspired you to write?

Maggie Cole, Jagger Cole, Bianca Cole—there’s something about that name—and Jane Henry for Mafia. Eliza Knight, Emma Prince, Keira Montclair, Cecelia Mecca are among a slew of Medieval Romance authors I devoured before becoming an author.

On rituals:

Where do you write?

In my living room most of the time. I have serious neck issues, and writing on my sofa actually puts the keyboard and mouse at the right height for me. I have my laptop on a stand to bring it to eye level. I can shift into different positions to stay comfy, which also makes it easier on my back. I sound so old! But that’s where I’m happy.

Do you write every day?

No. If I’m currently working on a book, I write almost every day. But I give myself days off here and there to get real life things done—getting my roots done or doctor’s appointments or lunch with my family or friends—or just to have a break. I give myself a few days to a couple weeks off between books.

What is your writing schedule?

I’ve gotten into dictation recently, so I go for a long walk—about 4.5 miles—most days and dictate during that time. I can write as many words walking for an hour-and-half as I can in twice that time of typing. It allows me to get exercise and fresh air without feeling like I’m cutting into my workday. I’ll continue writing once I’m home and back at my computer. When I strictly typed, I would write anywhere from eight to fourteen hours. I get immersed in my stories. I love being in my imagination, so time just isn’t a thing. It passes without me noticing.

If you’re a mom writer, how do you balance your time?

When I started, I was a middle school teacher and had an upper elementary and middle schooler at home. I would write during my lunch, while my kids were at swim practice, at night after they went to bed, and during the weekend. I have one in college and one about to graduate high school, so it’s easier now that they don’t need me the way they used to. Since this is my full-time job now, I work until my family gets home, then I try to be off the clock. But when I first started, it was grabbing any time I could anywhere I was.

Fun stuff:

What is something you've learned about yourself during the pandemic?

I’m a happy hermit. After years as a stay-at-home mom, a teacher, a personal trainer, and being in sales, it was wonderful to just not have to talk to people. My family each had a spot in the house to work, and I had quiet and solitude. I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was being an introvert who’s learned to navigate an extroverted world.

What TV series are you currently binge watching?

I have a few! Fire Country, S.W.A.T., FBI, Tracker, Landman, Matlock, Poppa’s House, Dexter: Original Sin, Miss Scarlet 

What is the oldest item of clothing you own?

I have a couple of oversized men’s button downs I’ve had since high school. I graduated in ’98. Wow. Now that I think about it, they are WAY older than I realized. I don’t wear them that often, so they’re still in great shape and never go out of fashion.

Who was your childhood celebrity crush?

Oh, that’s easy. Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block.

Content warnings:

These are NOT Daddy Dom/ Little Girl (DDLG) books, but the terms Daddy and baby girl are used as endearments.

Praise kink (NOT degradation/shame kink or bully romance though)

BDSM/spanking

May have elements of domestic discipline

Multiple explicit sex scenes

Extensive use of profanity

Explicit and implicit reference to violence, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, organized crime.