Unpacking Billionaire Romances and a Winter 831 Events Calendar
“When I dream up a billionaire, I think: This has gotta be the most messed-up person ever that I get to throw in the ring with a heroine.”
Billionaire Romance in the ‘Eat the Rich’ Era: Four Bits of Gold From Our January Panel
Billionaire romances aren’t going anywhere (hint, hint, wink, wink). But how are we reckoning with our enduring affection for the trope amid widening wealth inequality, a growing cultural discomfort with extravagant displays of $, and the increasing influence of billionaires in every facet of our lives? (And, and, and…)
In January, we hosted a panel discussion with some of our faves (all of whom have Substacks you should follow!) at one of our faves, McNally Jackson Books Seaport, to unpack it all. Watch the full conversation, moderated by the inimitable Sanjana Basker, or read four of the biggest takeaways, lightly edited for space, below.
When Beyoncé became a billionaire, everyone was like, “Eat the rich,”
and I was like, “Yo, but like, maybe her last.”
On writing a modern billionaire romance
Nikki Payne, tech anthropologist and bestselling romance author: My heroes and heroines, even if they are billionaires, they don’t tend to be white. So the way they have come into their money is this extra layer—and where they put their money and how they use their money is something I think about constantly…When Beyoncé became a billionaire, everyone was like, Eat the rich, and I was like, Yo, but like, maybe her last. Because here’s the problem with that; I’ll just speak for African Americans: Most of the avenues of wealth-building for African Americans have been quite literally on their backs and bodies. For wealth to be completely denied to them through the labor that was stolen for 400 years and them being, even after they were free, unable to access that wealth, and then breaking their body on the football field or dancing for 24 hours straight, and then suddenly you’re a billionaire, and everyone’s just like, Eff that—I’m like, Well, let’s pause here. Because there’s a little bit of tension there, right? You weren’t gifted an emerald mine by your grandfather, right? It was your blood. It was your body. So I think about that constantly. If my hero is wealthy, how did they get it? What are they doing with it?
On crafting stakes when money is no object
Jennifer Probst, New York Times bestselling romance author: In my mind, billionaires are the most effed-up people out there. Because that amount of extravagant money brings so many problems—whether you fought for it, and then you’re wondering, Can I keep it? Who’s gonna take it? Who can I trust? If you’re growing up in that type of family, the limitations you have, the roles you may be stuck on…That is the meat of the story. So when I dream up a billionaire, I think, This has gotta be the most messed-up person ever that I get to throw in the ring with a heroine. And in my books, the heroine…She may not have money, but she challenges him intellectually, emotionally. That’s the kind of billionaire romance that I love.
On the beginnings (and evolution) of the billionaire romance
Jennifer: [My book] The Marriage Bargain came out February 2012. And in 2011, when I sold it…[the MMC] was a millionaire. And I will never forget: My editor said, “So Jen, how do you feel, we’re changing it.” And I said, “OK, what are we changing it to?” And she said: “Millionaire is old, it’s out now. He’s gonna be a billionaire. We’re gonna call the series Marriage to a Billionaire, because that’s what all the readers want.” And I kept thinking, B??? What the—? In 2012, you didn’t really see billionaires around; it was only in romance fiction…And I don’t think that I could write the same book in 2012 that I would need to write now, with the way the billionaire is looked at now.
Sanjana Basker, doctoral student and romance enthusiast: Yeah, we know a lot more now. We know more about how Mark Zuckerberg water-skis.
Radhika Jones, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and English Ph.D: And also, given that a lot of the sudden billionaires in our culture are from the tech world, our impression of technology, and whether it’s a force for good or more toward the other way, has changed dramatically over the last 15 years.
On romances with billionaire FMCs
Nikki: It changes the dynamic of who gets to care for who, but there’s still this fantasy of this woman who is making moves and has this enormous amount of agency and is somehow missing something. Oftentimes intimacy, right? So I think the trope works well, sometimes better, for a woman who is a billionaire and is balling out and has to be this way in the boardroom and desires something else.
Radhika: We also live in a time when women have become billionaires through different routes, not just by family wealth, and I feel like the more that that happens, the more storylines open up. Because even if it’s fiction and fantasy, it helps to have that cultural context.
Sanjana: I would like to see more of that, and I would like to see more of that because I want to see really villainous, evil women. There’s a place for this, and I think it can be interesting as well, for the female billionaire to be a better person, like the MacKenzie Bezos giving away all of her wealth, reshaping society. But I do also think it would be interesting to see how wealth corrupts a woman too and displace the idea that there is some essentially good quality of femininity that salvages the corruption of wealth. I don’t think that’s true, and I think it would be interesting to explore.
Our next panel with McNally Jackson will focus on the wide world of sports romances. (Heated Rivalry hive, rise.) Details to come!
831’s Winter Events Calendar
With happenings in NYC, SF, D.C., Philly, Chicago, and Napa.
Tonight in Brooklyn: An Evening of Romances with 831 Stories
Featuring 831 authors Upasna Barath, Cat Disabato, Eliza Dumais, and Lana Schwartz, with Lindsey Weber of Who? Weekly in the role of Andy Cohen–esque moderator at Greenlight Bookstore.
Feb. 10 in San Francisco: Romance Book Swap at Thuma
Bring the romances you’ve already loved and are prepared to part with, and head home with new-to-you titles passed on from soon-to-be-old friends.
Feb. 11 in Philadelphia: Romance Book Swap at Yowie
Bring the romances you’ve already loved and are prepared to part with, and head home with new-to-you titles passed on from soon-to-be-old friends.
Feb. 12 in Brooklyn: Romance Book Club, February Edition
Romance author Georgia Clark (Most Wonderful) will lead a discussion about Eliza Dumais’s Grape Juice and Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing at McNally Jackson Downtown Brooklyn.
Feb. 12 in Chicago: Cat Disabato in Conversation with Jen Prokop and Off The Dribble
Join 831 Stories and Off The Dribble as we chat all things Rooting Interest with author Cat Disabato and Jen Prokop, co-host of the Fated Mates podcast, at Babe’s Sports Bar.
Feb. 13 in Chicago: Cat Disabato in Conversation with Kaylen Ralph
Join Rooting Interest author Cat Disabato and Kaylen Ralph, founder of Ladies Who Lit, at The Book Cellar.
Feb. 19 in Washington, D.C.: Romance Book Swap at Warby Parker Union Market
Bring the romances you’ve already loved and are prepared to part with, and head home with new-to-you titles passed on from soon-to-be-old friends.
March 3 in Napa: Eliza Dumais in Conversation with Caroline Chambers
Join Grape Juice author Eliza Dumais and cookbook author and culinary expert Caroline Chambers at Auberge Du Soleil in Napa, CA.
March 4 in Brooklyn: Romance Book Club, March Edition
Romance author Iman Hariri-Kia (Female Fantasy) will lead a discussion about Alexandra Romanoff’s Square Waves and Yulin Kuang’s How To End a Love Story at McNally Jackson Downtown Brooklyn.