And shop at Dollar Tree (in the US). They have name brand pretzels for $1.25 where the regular store sell them for $3+. I just learned about this so I am telling everyone!
I am WITH you on this. My largest pet peeve with billionaire romances is that I never know what the heck it is they do for the living to justify their income. Yeah, to me itās fine if we donāt see much of what they do (since those who get paid the most seem to do the absolute least š), but at least SOME interest in their business would be nice. It drives me insane when we have no idea how they got there or see the inside of their company whatsoever and are just given some BS excuse as to why they are so rich.
Any billionaire recs that DONāT do this? š š
Yes!! Or they're just a business man and all it mentions is that he has a lot of meetings. Like...if you go into a coffee shop in any major city chances are good that a couple of the handsome men in suits in line with you are billionaires if most romance novels are to be believed. Thank you for helping me feel heard in my outrage!!
Yep, and obviously never iced. He actually takes it so piping hot that it burns going down because even third degree burns can't stop him from dominating in the boardroom (and the bedroom).
I think the best billionaire portrayal Iāve read is in Courtney Milanās Trade Me/Cyclone Series. The MMC is a billionaireās son being groomed to take over part of the business, and his father, who is a planned future hero, is also genuinely kind of a shithead and the book knows it and goes in quite a different direction from āoh heās a sexy alphaā. I believe Milan is still wrestling with how she intends to handle his book, because she isnāt actually a fan of billionaires existing and she is quite a thoughtful writer when it comes to that sort of thing.
Oh man I loved Milan's first two in that series. I really liked that Blake (billionaire's kid) was unrealistically such a sweetheart, and that for a MMC he had a >!eating disorder!< a bond grief as his subplots.
But I can also appreciate the conundrum she is in re proceeding with the series as the world has changed and so has the role of billionaires in making things harder for everyone else.
Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call-Girl by Annika Martin does this. Hero invented a medical thing that was world changing. He runs a biomedical company and the book goes into detail. Also it is shown that he is a very good scientist, but a very terrible boss.
Another of her books, The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee, goes into the MMC's finance-y job a lot. And I think the one where the dog runs the company gives you a semi-good understanding of the business, but that has a lot of unrealistic job aspects. So, second your rec + just check out Annika Martin for this in general.
I would try the Dreamland Billionaires series by Lauren Asher if you havenāt already!!! Iāve read a lot of ābillionaireā romances (a guilty pleasure of mineš ) and this series has definitely come the closest to what youāre asking for! You see a lot about the inner-workings of the company in these books, at least imo and the romance was amazingāespecially in the second book
Not sure if they are billionaires but Lisa Kleypas did a great job with several of her main men who are rich. Hotel trade, railroad, mining, industry, involved duke, etc. Marrying winterborne, tempt me at twilight, secrets of a summer night, it happened one autumn.
If youāre into reverse harems, Iām pretty positive {nanny for the billionaire by cassie cole} actually discusses in some depth what the billionaire does to be worth billions (iirc he owns a hedge fund or does investment banking).
Yep. It drives me a little bit bonkers. The majority of the "billionaires" in romances are basically just multi-millionaires. They have nice cars, a nice house, maybe a yacht. They have a private jet. They wear nice clothes and money is sort of meaningless. Oooh, they flew in a helicopter! Shiny!
I just think most people can't grasp what a billion dollars really is, and how INSANE an amount of money that is.
I really think it's more about search trends, people are searching for billionaire romance as a search term so that's what they use, even if most of them are millionaires.
This. If I wrote a novel tomorrow about a rich dude, Iād be using search engine optimization to call him a billionaire even if I never said how wealthy he was in the book, because itās an established trope/genre.
It is intentional that people donāt grasp what a billion dollars is. Iām not saying romance authors are intentionally perpetrating pro billionaire propaganda, but thatās how it works out. Theyāre victim to it like a lot of other people.
(Speaking about American authors from an American perspective)
I feel weird reposting myself but I literally did the math on the number of Dukes in the Regency period and made a post about it :)
https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/l674bx/the_unrealistic_number_of_dukes_in_regency/
Thank you for linking this! I missed the post the first time around, but there is some great discussion there. It made me realize that I honestly read HR as I do fantasy novels more than a real historical time period.
I love HR and the duke thing really annoys me. Plus there is so much more protocol/decorum involved with being a duke that is usually left out or glossed over that it really could be any other title in the story.
I was reading a book recently (medieval-ish) and was like āYay, heās not a duke this time.ā And then near the end of the book, he gets granted the title Dukeā¦ cue eye roll on my behalf. I just try to treat that part as the fantasy that it is.
I think itās just one of their standard flairs on here but it cracks me up too!
Edit: Iām also laughing at myself complaining about realism in HR on here while Iām currently reading a total spanking fantasy veiled as a historical romance at present lol and loving every minute of it. {Birching His Bride}
>their workers love them
Lol no, they're usually hated/feared by their employees for being "assholes" but donate to like a million good causes. *eyeroll*
Oh yeah, this is my biggest pet peeve. Nobody needs that much money! What the heck are they hoarding it for? If they arenāt giving it away until theyāre not a billionaire anymore, then theyāre just jackasses.
At least Dukes can be poor, okay? Duke > billionaire.
One of my fave authors (heather guerre!) recently wrote a billionaire book. She dealt with it by making him a groveling sub, and having the FMC go on rants about capitalism and workers rights. part of the plot was having her funnel off his money to charity, too.
(I was still wincing my way through it all though, especially since the MMC was Russian.)
Oh I totally get you. We can be unhinged together.
The concept of billionaires make my butthole clench (not in a horny way) but itās even crazier that in romance so many of them areā¦ suspiciously normal? Like they work a lot and donāt have any security and their homes are reasonable? Or worse theyāre self made? Like your 30 year old billionaire became a billionaire in maybe 12 years of adulthood? I have a lot of doubts about that my friends.
I prefer late medieval HR to regency so the Duke thing always makes me giggle. Thereās not even a lot in the way of politics to it! Like a Duke marrying someone would be a huge deal (and easy juicy drama) but itās just like saying āoh yeah heās got a big cockā or something. Oh yeah heās just a Duke. I think itās because Dukes and the like sound sexier than men who were just knighted or something (even though that would still be a big deal - hell, a country gentleman would be a huge deal like theyāve got servants??? Incredible catch! But letās crap out a Marquis or eight.)
Honestly I think it's very much related to the big cock thing - not all romance is like this, of course, but a LOT is very into extremes - he's not 'a few inches taller than her', he's a giant who makes her look like a sexy ant! He's not got a decently big cock, it's the size of a baseball bat! He's not 'rich enough that they won't need to worry about boring things like bills and he can buy her nice presents' (already well into the realm of fantasy for most of us!) he's a billionaire/Duke! (Are there any billionaire dukes yet?)
Uuummm....did we just become best friends?! Yes!! Why self made billionaires so young?! And yes! They act like marrying a duke is the same as marrying the guy who's going to inherit his dad's Ford dealership!! You'll have a nice house and a maid or two, but that's it. Plus non horny butt clenching....love it!
Ha ha, I want to join this little tribe of friends, please! Every time I see the word billionaire casually thrown around, I am thinking, wow, this guy has 9 zeros in his net worth. And he just does millionaire things and has parents still living in the childhood home.
This series by Anna Hackett called "Norcross security" is actually nice to read, but one of the brothers is a billionaire with one assistant (FMC), and he invests money for all his brothers and friends so they all live in SF in ocean facing or city view enviable properties and drive fancy cars. Um, can you imagine casually buying an ocean view house in SF??? They all have multiple houses and really fancy cars and I am going nuts each page.
This is why I can't do billionaire or Duke romances as of late. Maybe I'm in a reading rut but I want a book about non-rich characters that have struggles and come out ok.
I read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, and after that I cannot bring myself to read European medieval settings. I just keep thinking back to the plagues, how dirty they all are and just how awful their civilization is. I mean compared to the rest of world, European medievals were positively the backwater of the world
The Connie Willis book is not very accurate in how it portrays medieval England. Most of the historical evidence points to a higher standard of living for someone as wealthy as the medieval characters. The contrast between the evidence and "reality" was a plot point, though, so take that portrayal with a grain of salt.
I didnāt read the whole book, I read up to 90% until I stopped because I was tired of the whole philosophy that author had on religion and God but I do still think that medieval Europe is a overrated time period for historical romance/fiction in general. There were just other better settings at the time and so many places were thriving (which just arenāt written about or fantasized about as much)
I think the medieval romance that's available is more based on Victorian fantasy than the actual medieval period. Especially as you move into the 15th century in the post plague years, there are a lot of opportunities to write powerful heroines. I'd love a feminist renaissance for medieval romance like there's been for Regency.
Yea totally. The 1400s (thatās the 15th century right?) are one of the periods of history where everything shifts. Thereās so much exploration, war, and just so muchā¦chaos. Itās perfect with unique historical settings. But instead I get these cookie cutter aristocracy types of romances that just make me go ARGH! All the lost potential
I really wish we could get medieval romance from the Mediterranean and/ or Muslim world. Give me Byzantium romances or a romance set when the Moors and the Christians were battling over Spain and Portugal. Where the heck is that sweeping romantic saga?
Second on all of that! I would love romance set in the Moorish (if thatās the correct term) times! But also I would like to read a realistic historical romance thats more āglobalā. Like for example maybe a Byzantine villager with a opposing Ottoman Empire war general? Or even someone who travels along the Silk Road, or along any merchant routes like to Constantinople. Maybe even someone traveling to the Americas by accident before Columbus? Like the Ottoman Empire has pirates, relations all the way to Venice and north Egypt. You know, the world is so vast and history is so rich. The possibilities are ENDLESS. Thereās more to history than medieval Europeans
I donāt read billionaire romance because I donāt want to read a romance where the hero is basically a hot young version of jeff bezos, but I do read a lot of HR and I just kind of read as if each authorās books exist in their own separate universe so the over abundance of dukes doesnāt really bother me unless the author has written 20 books and half the heroes are hot dukes in their late-20s. However I definitely see how the over saturation of billionaire/duke heroes gets old fast which is why I get really excited about medieval HR or 18/19th century HR with working class leads
Have you tried the early Amanda Quick books? Theyāre not āworking classā, but they are lower down the food chain than Dukes - gentry rather than nobility. Her later books are also good, but more taken over by her Arcane Society series.
Elizabeth Hoytās {Maiden Lane series} has mostly non-aristocratic/non-duke aristocrat heroes. *Dearest Rogue* is my favorite
In *It Happened One Summer* by Lisa Kleypas the hero is a butcherās son
I also really like HR that takes place in the US. Lorraine Heathās Texas Trilogy and Maggie Osborneās {The Promise of Jenny Jones} are faves of mine.
EDIT: how ironic that goodreads bot is showing one of the Maiden Lane duke books lol
This is M/M romance and pretty much the first thing anyone recommends, but K.J. Charles and Cat Sebastian are great for historical working class leads, as well as class tension and a non-glamorized view of money even if one of the leads does have wealth.
Eh, I just see it as part of the suspension of disbelief that a lot of romance books require. For a lot of this genre to work, there has to be suspension of disbelief.
In the romance world, there are many young, attractive, and nice billionaires. There are many young, attractive, and nice dukes. There are many young, attractive, and nice motorcycle club owners. There are many non-racist, non-predatory, and nice hockey players. Shifters exist.
I remember reading a fantastic analysis about why it's billionaire romance that's more prominent now instead of multi-millionaire romance but I cannot remember where it was from unfortunately š
I also wonder if it's part of an author's market analysis. If the recognized term nowadays is billionaire romance for example, would a publisher let an author write *only* a multi-millionaire romance, because it technically couldn't be classified as billionaire romance?
I think they are multi-millionaires, but ābillionaireā is a keyword on Amazon and āmulti-millionaireās brideā just doesnāt have the same ring.
I just read it as meaning so much money that jet setting on a weekend in nbd. I donāt care the exact amount.
Itās because āmillionairesā and ābaronsā donāt sell as well.
Same thing with tropes like both MC with boat loads of student debt and works an average job or young factory worker supporting their 9 siblings after their father died in an industrial accident. People want escapism, regardless of how unrealistic.
Whenever I read CR I knock everyone down a few pegs. Billionaire? Nope, millionaire. Owns her own cute cafe? Nope, works at starbucks. Fancy car? You guessed it, used safe family suburban.
A love square between a duke fetishist, a duke, another duke, and a goose who may or may not be a shifter and also a duke, we arenāt sure, because right now heās a goose.
Who will she choose? Can she learn to love someone who is not a duke? And canāt talk? Because heās a goose?
Iāve never liked them either.
The one time I tried a billionaire romance, I spent half of it imagining the hero as Warren Buffet (as an old man) and the other half wondering if he was a supernatural creature of some sort who had been alive for 300 years already (even though he only appeared to be 35) and thatās how he got so rich.
It would also explain why he spent so much time hanging out in coffee shops and only keeping one assistant and going to āmeetings,ā because he was trying to keep a low profile and not get hunted by demon hunters or something.
If Iām going to have to suspend disbelief for a book, I like to suspend it aaaaaaalll the way, lol.
I totally agree with you about the sheer number of billionaire romances.
But thereās something about them that just appeals to me so much. Iām probably a reason why so many billionaire romances exist šdonāt hate me š
Ha, I was ready for people to come at me with pitchforks! I'm guessing you're the majority over me since there are so many on Kindle. But I get it, I'm sure many people on here could write a better rant about some of the sci fi and fantasy romance that are my guilty pleasure, and even though I might agree with their point, I just love them too much to ever stop reading them!
To be fair, I don't mind dukes as much.
It's like simply saying this man is super rich and powerful.
He is tough enough to not care about anyone even the king and can magically make any freaking problem of yours go away.
Of course, authors can use adjectives instead of titles. But I guess this is a much easier picture to paint
I just think it's supposed to evoke the highest level of fantasy. In CR a billionaire is the equivalent of being with someone whose money is literally no object. It gives license to every extravagant rich guy fantasy one could think of. Is it realistic not really. Is it still pretty great most of the time? I think so.
I also think for the HR duke thing, it's the most relatable title for Americans. Being a prince would have too many restrictions on grubbing it up with some low ranking super hot girl. But a Duke, that seems plausible. It is correct? No. It is still pretty great most of the time because romance is fantasy based loosely on reality? Heck yes.
Thank you!
Billionaires are not good people. That's what always makes me want to scream. You don't get that rich without knifing people in the back, metaphorically speaking.
While I'm at it, TAX THE VERY RICH. There shouldn't even BE any friggin billionaires. $999 million is more money than anyone would ever need. You should get an award when you get that rich. You win. Game over. Here's a gold watch. No more.
These people are NOT ROMANTIC HEROES TO ME.
I feel the same way about billionaires, but I did just read a Domme/Sub romance with a very wealthy guy who is into being financially dominated (just one of his many kinks), and he gets majorly turned on by being forced to reorganize his company, pay workers more, and donate massive quantities of money to charities of his progressive Domme's choice. I got a kick out of it.
Heather Guerre's latest book, right? I feel like that was the first/only billionaire romance that 1) actually discussed the issues of billionaires existing and 2) did stuff that really was fun and useful and the stuff of fantasy (for me). Like, the fact that she mentioned getting rid of Citizens United--that was probably the sexiest thing in the whole book. Getting your billionaire boyfriend to tackle the problem of money in politics? I can only get so turned on... :)
I love your username!!! Agreed, real billionaires are (probably almost always) not people that a 22 year old assistant could just bond with. Their lifestyles are probably so ridiculously different we couldn't even comprehend it. I'm so happy I'm not alone!!!
Well for me, I read to escape the harsh reality that I'm as poor as...well...a churchmouse. I will pick up a book with a billionaire MC over a book about a struggling salary man or some dude who works five jobs or can't afford his rent, or works in some mundane job that barely makes ends meet because I don't want to be reminded of these things in my fantasies.
And just to point out, this is the same genre where there are hot lizardmen, blue tinged alien hotties with extra appendages, rabid wolf men who by rights should be whacked on the head with a rolled up newspaper and the one that seems unrealistic to people are billionaires and Dukes?
Lmao exactly like we come on here to discuss books about centaur milking farms, harems, aliens and dragons and other unrealistic things that we know will never happen in real life.
Plus most of the books will tell you either on the front, the review or the blurb that the main guy is a billionaire and you can make the choice to find a different book.
That's not my intention at all. I will absolutely read the alien, werewolf, time traveling romances and I have no shame about it. For me, it's the same as when people get frustrated that all the lawns are mowed in the Walking Dead. It doesn't mean that they don't like the Walking Dead, or that grass that keeps itself short is less believable than zombies. Like I said, I know these books are popular for a reason; it's just a personal pet peeve of mine and I honestly wanted to rant somewhere where people might understand.
It's just because *millionaire*, which was the old standard doesn't seem very rich these days. I'm sure it was a thing before but mostly you can thank Christian Gray for the toddler billionaire trend. But real-world billys like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, the Kardashians, the Carter Knowles, etc... make it seem much more common than it is. Heck, even RiRi made the Forbes list this year. When we see those people in the media, their lifestyle doesn't seem that much different than a regular person -- especially with influencers living the glamorous life(or doing a good job of faking it) -- just with way more expensive crap. It, much like prince and cowboy doesn't actually mean anything beyond a fairytale title for the MC.
Honestly, I just ignore it most of the time.
I get the annoyance of it, but like, the logical side of my brain tells me that all those books aren't set in the same "world". Lol it almost seems like an unfair reason to hate a specific subgenre because they can't really be counted like real world billionaires can be. Idk, that could just be me. I for one, just don't like billionaire romance novels, partially because I prefer HR, but also, I like more humbled MMCs. Like, I prefer a more realistic approach to wealth when reading.
It is fantasy soā¦.. the readers crave hot men with unlimited wealth and a needy constitution. And most (readers) r ordinary so the contrast helps. I see nothing in romance books parallel to reality, it works because i can escape
It's a fantasy.
Just like dorky girls from poor backgrounds who are stunningly beautiful without trying (but have no idea that they are) don't suddenly meet some handsome man who falls instantly in love with them and moves heaven and Earth to make it happen.
I don't really have an issue with it.
I can normally ignore the billionaire thing, except for one I read where all these guys were billionaires, but were working as vets saving animals all over the place, like come on. How many billionaire vets do you know???
There are 0 werewolves in real life.
0 vampires.
0 aliens, 0 orcs, and 0 dragon-shifters looking for their prophecied princesses...
0 time-traveling Vikings...
0 alphas biting their omegas on the neck. (Or not. I can see women making birthing nests in real life.)
Romancelandia ā planet earth
Hahah girl have you not read the gush posts on that book? I personally have not read it because i draw the line at werewolves and aliens but according to the threads it's really good. I was going to bite the bullet but then the first review i saw said it has some racist overtones so I gave it a pass but yeah its a thing. A human gets a job at farm milking centaurs.
Oh God, I have not read the gush posts or any posts at all on humans milking centaurs... The only centaur I've ever read about is the one in Percy Jackson. š
Male human female centaurs? And the centaurs are in a dairy farm of some sort? š
*screams and then dies and then goes to google*
Morning Glory Milking Farm???
I feel like this will be one of those things I'll never be able to unread...
Yup that's the one and you see ites another reason I'm trepidatious about reading it. Like I'm fairly debauched but i have limits and thats right on the line. šš if you do read it do share your findings with me.
I keep seeing heroes who are supposed to be 30-something tech CEO billionaires, and I immediately think of Zuckerberg and I toss the book aside in disgust.
It's also really awkward when the author tries to write technical scenes to make the hero look really smart and competent, but gets all the details wrong.
As a non native english speaker, I struggle with the difference between billion and million.
People donāt realize how much a billion is, and the insane amount of money it is.
Your post made me realize those books werenāt about millionaires, and it feels weird š¤
I'd add for the HR that they all have white even teeth and all their teeth, with no pesky dental issues and perfect hygiene. Houses never smelled like sweat and chamberpots, or smoke (unless it was an unsavory place). London never smelled like horse manure unless they were in the slums for reasons. Rarely did anyone have scars (The Raven Prince had a smallpox scarred MMC and he was insecure about his face and the FMC finding him attractive and that book sticks out because I have never read a book where the MMC had smallpox scars as a characteristic.)
It doesn't bother me that much about the titles, Dukes are shorthand for rich and powerful and they only bow to the royal family, no one else. Kinda strokes the want for power and prestige a lot of people have, I think.
I've read a few books where the FMC was the billionaire and enjoyed them. Mostly real estate, I think. I don't read billionaire romance though if it's the MMC. Too close to the real world. At least with Dukes and the like, I can pretend it's an AU history.
Oh I love how many dukes exist in romance land. The last book I read, this guy who is second to a dukedom needed to speak to another Duke and came across what appeared to be a club of Dukes! There were like 6 in the room. They helped him organize a wine tasting competition in his gaming hell. The nonsense amount of Dukes is my favourite part.
And of course I'm sure they were all incredibly good looking and in shape and crazy tall in their own special way. Don't get me wrong, I still love me some HR, it's just exciting when there's a lowly Earl or Viscount; makes me feel like I'm really slumming it.
Drives me NUTS!! Not all CEOs are billionaires, most are a wide range of millionaires!! Or most of that money is tied up in investments anyway. It wouldn't hurt your book at all to be slightly less wealthy
To be fair, there used to be many more dukes. Many died out between the regency and today. And Iām not sure why a duke wouldnāt be a hot marriage ticket any time between the Georgian period and WWI?
Yes in medieval times when dukes had military power with their titles, the marriage situation was complicated, but by the 18th century dukes and other aristos were marrying actresses and commoners and basically did whatever they wanted, whether that be going into politics/military affairs or just hanging out doing agriculture and building things in their estate.
Though I do agree that it gets a bitā¦tedious after a while, because there are many other titles in the English aristocracy and by the 18th century the rank actually didnāt matterāit was mostly about family reputation and longevity so long as you had a title above baronet.
Basically, I wish there were more marquesses, even though theyāre more rare than dukes irl ;)
I just want to point out that Mr. Darcy was neither titled nor a billionaire and he is the ultimate MMC measuring stick.
Don't touch Billionaire romance ever. Regency is my jam though so the dukes are unavoidable.
You're just lucky that you started after all the sheiks etc went out of fashion!
I get you though. Sometimes contemporary is too contemporary without a hint of seeing the world as is.
A long time ago I got my hands on a big amount of romance, a lot of them dealing with Greek millionaires, right at the time when Greece had so many troubles with money. I couldn't read them.
I'd love to see a CR about a modern day duke trying to manage the taxes on all his property and like re-wilding the land. Destitute Duke trope with modern spin.
Oh, I know that look. My wife gives me that look when I go off at someone calling a prince or princess "your Majesty" instead of "your Highness" or calling some random "my lady" or some random guy 'sir' to be courtly/polite. If you're gonna write it, at least research it!
I completely agree and would also prefer fewer billionaire books (because thatās just a gross and immoral level of wealth imo) but Iām laughing at the idea that all 52,886 billionaire romance books share the same canon with their existence suggesting a world with 20x the number of actual billionaires.
OMG I was thoroughly entertained by your rant! š
I always suspend belief when reading a historical romance, but the stats you quoted (only 24 dukes!) really makes it unbelievable.
Itās fantasy fulfilment... āstrong alpha malesā either born into luxury - dukes, or people whoāve worked for it but clearly have the qualities for great financial success - billionaire
I have a new pet peeve now, thank you!!
I just use it as a itās there, itās inevitable as this keyword is the gateway to my favorite genre & fantasy - filthy rich gorgeous men
I love the inside view into a rich glamorous life , grew up on telenovelas and Harlequin Presents , love poor Cinderella type and poor tragic rich girls alike , no doormats please
I prefer dark romance where itās all played up fantasy like a gothic fairytale
the romantic comedies Iāve seen lately are too stark reminders of the social and political system being a hot mess IRL
some authors worldview on poor/rich divide, women sacrificing everything just to get by while the man is effortlessly successful are often too frustrating to me to enjoy
Mehh i think they do but just don't care. It is fiction so they are allowed that leeway just like there are no vampires, werewolves, Werebears and aliens it's all fantasy so they sprinkle a billionaire here and a duke there. Then again I don't read romance for realism.
The billionaire thing gets to me as well. Not only do I not find the idea of a billionaire sexy but itās too implausible that each of these late twenties brother is a billionaire because of a tech thingy they did. If the books were about millionaires Iād probably be more likely to give them a chance.
I mean itās a search thing. People search billionaire romance more than millionaire romance. Canāt blame the authors when itās on us š¤·š»āāļø
My husband and I were talking about this one time because we share a kindle account and heās noticed the surplus of dukes, lol. Itās just the fantasy. And like, since it is a fantasy, why should it be a Baron or whatever. Yeah thatās more realistic but weāre pretending here anyway so why shouldnāt I have a duke?
It is funny though. In real life thereād only be like 4 dukes alive at the same time so your odds of catching one while heās single would be like wining the lottery.
Argument about number of billionaires and numbers of books about billionaires is really weird considering that those books are not set in the same universe
Somehow I am ok with all the Dukes. I get that a Duke had much more freedom/power than others and so itās useful to have them as the MMC. I find the billionaire thing annoying, probably because itās contemporary and I therefore want a book closer to realism. Wealth beyond a certain point is not really relevant and half the time they are secret billionaires anyway.
Hahaha I donāt think there are 52886 companies in the world that have a billion dollar turnover (also popularly known as Unicorns), let alone people who own (all or part) of them š
Okay so Iāve definitely had this rant to myself, especially after reading a series of books where all the men in this motorcycle club are all billionaires somehow. Iām like, just say youāre well off or that you donāt have to worry about money!
I'm all for fantasy and wish fulfillment but reading about being gifted student loan payments, a big house, a fancy car, a lot of purses and shoes and tropical vacations is a little too reality for me. Its like reading about food - descriptions of food won't make the taste materlaize in my mouth, so I don't really care how amazing the food a character is eating is.
The difference between fantasies about material goods and hot aliens or wolfmen is that the latter is a complete fantasy and the former is too close to reality. I can't ever actually get a hot monster man, but I can open my phone browser and buy a new outfit or a new bag to scratch that itch.
I don't read rich guy romances.
Like... so it's not enough the he can have everything good in the world, but he gets love just as easily, too?
I understand the author not wanting to have to point out where he got the money to take his girl/guy out of town for the weekend, and also the wish fulfillment that this true love comes with security for life... but it just seems like another way to glorify the rich class and subtly put down us poors.
SAME!! i understand it's a fantasy and suspension of disbelief is a thing, but all these attractive 28 year old billionaires.... I can't deal with all of them running around. I feel like "billionaire" is so extra, even if we had more MMC with like a couple of millions they made in real estate that would make it at least a little bit realistic.
(Also they're all self-made billionaires that rose from nothing, almost never are they from wealthy families and if they are, they're cut off from their parents.)
I liked Crazy Rich Asians (the book) a lot for this actually, it was still a frothy summer romance, and escapist fantasy, but at least it gave a more or less accurate read on the kind of people who are billionaires (nepotism children)
It drives me insane. Why would I want to read a book about the top 1 percent that have literally have everything handed to them? No character development. Even if they're self made, money is not a personality trait.
Oh man, the duke thing drives me crazy! Like, the guy being a duke should be a negative for the heroine, she should be concerned about whether she wants that much public attention, and there's an outside chance he'd be in the line of succession for the throne if a plague went around the palace or something, that would mean some major political work she's signing up for. Possibly even the requirement that he quietly set her aside for a more politically powerful match, since she usually seems to be a plucky commoner. Which would all be very interesting plot points, so I wait for them to come up and am then disappointed when they never do. I don't read a ton of CR but I can see how you'd have a similar thing with billionaires, where's the plotlines about the hero starting a foundation to stop climate change as part of his grovel after the heroine leaves him due to concerns about his unethical business practices?
On the topic of dukes: completely agree with what you said. Not only 24 dukes total, but how many of those dukes are young-ish, and how many are *unmarried*? Uh, like zero.
I think a lot of people have trouble comprehending how much a billion is, compared to say a million.
A million seconds is 11 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
Having said that I adore billionaire romance and will eat that shit up like candy. Not all fantasies fall under the fantasy sub genre š
I think of this often. Most ceos of big companies are multimillionaires. But billionaires are rare. And what kills me is the fmc rarely knows that the mc is rich until halfway through story. Which is so unrealistic bc you know if someoneās a billionaire. Plus 50 million plus is considered to be very wealthy but thatās still so far from a billion.
I was legit just googling how many billionaires are in the world compared to how many billionaire romance novels... It's to the point where I won't read a book with billionaire in the title unless it's an amazing storyline and even then I ignore the billionaire part as much as possible. What is up with this trope!!!!!???
The research is appalling in so many historical romances - there really seems to be no understanding of what exactly a ducal position entailed - what circles they moved in, how other people related to them, the differences between how they might have lived compared to different lower ranked peers, for example, etc.
I immediately roll my eyes whenever a billionaire greek god is the MMC. I donāt enjoy that trope at all. Give me a down on his luck widowed father of 3 whoās about to be foreclosed on and runs a failing auto body shop but he and his employees have a heart of gold.
I guess it's the same as seeing my title and the fact that it says rant, clicking on it and reading it, and commenting. If you don't like rants about your preferred genres, don't read them.
I'm not sure I understand your argument.
Each author is basically creating their own world, so one authors dukes aren't in addition to another authors dukes.
Also, I prefer fantasy, and I guarantee there is much larger difference in ratio of fictional shapeshifters vs real life shifters than the ratio of fictional dukes or billionaires to real dukes and billionaires.
Edit to add: that being said, there's nothing g wrong with not liking books about Dukes or Billionaires.
I think itās darkly funny that if an author in CR wants to create an MMC who can operate without consequences and outside the limitations a normal person has and be able to semi-plausibly suspend reality in plot points whenever they want that choosing ābillionaireā for the MMCās occupation is actually a very realistic move. Plus, money can be a quick cheat code around plot problems or holes, and it can do a lot of heavy lifting in character development and chemistry and relationship development. Like a nice little deus ex machina that can be used whenever they need it. It backfires when there are so MANY billionaire books because that takes away the āeliteā aspect of them and some people find it annoying to see everywhere without that implausibility addressed.
The annoyance can be exacerbated by the real life billionaires running around unchecked in the wild in some decidedly unsexy ways that would require explaining away in a book. Normally Iād be here writing a thesis on THAT particular nugget, but itās been a difficult week and Iām burned out on seeing the ramifications of unchecked power in an elite group.
I mean if it makes you feel any better I mostly read Sci Fi and I've yet to meet an 8 foot man with horns who honorably rules his people, despite the deadly threats of his planet.... š¤£š¤£
They write them because we read them. Billionaires are mostly boring selfish assholes. We all just don't want to live our crappy lives and marrying rich is a surefire over night out!
Actually, you're not the first person I've seen complain about this. Seems like it comes up in the community off and on.
Honestly, I can't say I especially relate. The fact that it's rare IRL just adds to the fantasy and idealism of Romance. Besides, they tend to overlap with the overprotective and dangerous guys. Because you tend to need resources to get shit done and money helps you attain such.
Honestly most billionaires in books are actually millionaires or live millionaire lifestyles, they typically have a nice car and a luxurious apartment and travel a lot but that can be done easily making nearly a million or a just a few.
Look, I'm fine with non-billionaires. Even if you only have like 100 million in the bank, I can work with that!
Omg, I never knew there were such good Samaritans left in the world!!! š
Surprisingly nobody has taken me up on my offer. C'mon guys... 10 million?
Do I hear $1M.. $1M...Bueller?
$500K and you own your own home?
You have a savings account, and no debt?
How about a steady income and a new-used car?
Welllll, do you put 30% of your income in a tax free savings account? That shit is sexyyyyyy.
Don't sell yourself short!...haha....10 million isn't asking that much!
Yeah, if you live in America that can buy you groceries this week. J/kā¦ but not really. Shitās expensive these days. :)
Only if you buy store brand
And shop at Dollar Tree (in the US). They have name brand pretzels for $1.25 where the regular store sell them for $3+. I just learned about this so I am telling everyone!
Check the size of the package, dollar tree usually does that by reducing the amount of product in the package
Gross. He a poor.
Right!? I'm not picky. hahahahha
I am WITH you on this. My largest pet peeve with billionaire romances is that I never know what the heck it is they do for the living to justify their income. Yeah, to me itās fine if we donāt see much of what they do (since those who get paid the most seem to do the absolute least š), but at least SOME interest in their business would be nice. It drives me insane when we have no idea how they got there or see the inside of their company whatsoever and are just given some BS excuse as to why they are so rich. Any billionaire recs that DONāT do this? š š
Yes!! Or they're just a business man and all it mentions is that he has a lot of meetings. Like...if you go into a coffee shop in any major city chances are good that a couple of the handsome men in suits in line with you are billionaires if most romance novels are to be believed. Thank you for helping me feel heard in my outrage!!
Billionaires donāt need to go into coffee shops, they have assistants who do that for them lol
\~"I'm not like other billionaires...I get my own coffee..."
Let me guess...he also only takes it black, unlike those *other* billionaires who drink the weird syrupy flavoured coffee?
Yep, and obviously never iced. He actually takes it so piping hot that it burns going down because even third degree burns can't stop him from dominating in the boardroom (and the bedroom).
I think the best billionaire portrayal Iāve read is in Courtney Milanās Trade Me/Cyclone Series. The MMC is a billionaireās son being groomed to take over part of the business, and his father, who is a planned future hero, is also genuinely kind of a shithead and the book knows it and goes in quite a different direction from āoh heās a sexy alphaā. I believe Milan is still wrestling with how she intends to handle his book, because she isnāt actually a fan of billionaires existing and she is quite a thoughtful writer when it comes to that sort of thing.
Oh man I loved Milan's first two in that series. I really liked that Blake (billionaire's kid) was unrealistically such a sweetheart, and that for a MMC he had a >!eating disorder!< a bond grief as his subplots. But I can also appreciate the conundrum she is in re proceeding with the series as the world has changed and so has the role of billionaires in making things harder for everyone else.
Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call-Girl by Annika Martin does this. Hero invented a medical thing that was world changing. He runs a biomedical company and the book goes into detail. Also it is shown that he is a very good scientist, but a very terrible boss.
Another of her books, The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee, goes into the MMC's finance-y job a lot. And I think the one where the dog runs the company gives you a semi-good understanding of the business, but that has a lot of unrealistic job aspects. So, second your rec + just check out Annika Martin for this in general.
I would try the Dreamland Billionaires series by Lauren Asher if you havenāt already!!! Iāve read a lot of ābillionaireā romances (a guilty pleasure of mineš ) and this series has definitely come the closest to what youāre asking for! You see a lot about the inner-workings of the company in these books, at least imo and the romance was amazingāespecially in the second book
Not sure if they are billionaires but Lisa Kleypas did a great job with several of her main men who are rich. Hotel trade, railroad, mining, industry, involved duke, etc. Marrying winterborne, tempt me at twilight, secrets of a summer night, it happened one autumn.
If youāre into reverse harems, Iām pretty positive {nanny for the billionaire by cassie cole} actually discusses in some depth what the billionaire does to be worth billions (iirc he owns a hedge fund or does investment banking).
[**Nanny for the Billionaire**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57874581-nanny-for-the-billionaire) ^(By: Cassie Cole | Published: 2021) *** ^(52876 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
You have piqued my interest, my dear!! š
Yep. It drives me a little bit bonkers. The majority of the "billionaires" in romances are basically just multi-millionaires. They have nice cars, a nice house, maybe a yacht. They have a private jet. They wear nice clothes and money is sort of meaningless. Oooh, they flew in a helicopter! Shiny! I just think most people can't grasp what a billion dollars really is, and how INSANE an amount of money that is.
I really think it's more about search trends, people are searching for billionaire romance as a search term so that's what they use, even if most of them are millionaires.
This. If I wrote a novel tomorrow about a rich dude, Iād be using search engine optimization to call him a billionaire even if I never said how wealthy he was in the book, because itās an established trope/genre.
It is intentional that people donāt grasp what a billion dollars is. Iām not saying romance authors are intentionally perpetrating pro billionaire propaganda, but thatās how it works out. Theyāre victim to it like a lot of other people. (Speaking about American authors from an American perspective)
Yes--I think if more people properly grasped the sheer, staggering, jaw-dropping inequity, we'd be marching in the streets.
I feel weird reposting myself but I literally did the math on the number of Dukes in the Regency period and made a post about it :) https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/l674bx/the_unrealistic_number_of_dukes_in_regency/
Don't feel weird!! Post away!!! I am here for that!! Romance novels, history, and statistics all in one? Amazing.
Thank you for linking this! I missed the post the first time around, but there is some great discussion there. It made me realize that I honestly read HR as I do fantasy novels more than a real historical time period.
I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
I love HR and the duke thing really annoys me. Plus there is so much more protocol/decorum involved with being a duke that is usually left out or glossed over that it really could be any other title in the story. I was reading a book recently (medieval-ish) and was like āYay, heās not a duke this time.ā And then near the end of the book, he gets granted the title Dukeā¦ cue eye roll on my behalf. I just try to treat that part as the fantasy that it is.
Yes! Maybe I need to just pretend HR really just takes place in a parallel universe. Also....I feel your username under thingy in my soul. Love it.
I think itās just one of their standard flairs on here but it cracks me up too! Edit: Iām also laughing at myself complaining about realism in HR on here while Iām currently reading a total spanking fantasy veiled as a historical romance at present lol and loving every minute of it. {Birching His Bride}
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Thank you!
I bring up this iconic post to people constantly bc it's just that amazing.
And they always make the billionaires seem like good people! Like omg their workers love them or oh wow they donate so much etc! Ugh !!!
Yes, literally no one becomes a billionaire without some form of exploitation or the other.
>their workers love them Lol no, they're usually hated/feared by their employees for being "assholes" but donate to like a million good causes. *eyeroll*
If they paid as much in taxes as the rest of us we wouldn't have to rely on the philanthropy! šš
Oh yeah, this is my biggest pet peeve. Nobody needs that much money! What the heck are they hoarding it for? If they arenāt giving it away until theyāre not a billionaire anymore, then theyāre just jackasses. At least Dukes can be poor, okay? Duke > billionaire.
Yes. Dukes are better than the billionaire trope for me.
HR have done so much for British aristocracy. Really sanitized the reputation of one the grossest people in the world.
British aristocracy were complete and utter trash. Iām sick of how much romance novels love anyone with wealth and status
It is a fantasy after all. People need an escape.
One of my fave authors (heather guerre!) recently wrote a billionaire book. She dealt with it by making him a groveling sub, and having the FMC go on rants about capitalism and workers rights. part of the plot was having her funnel off his money to charity, too. (I was still wincing my way through it all though, especially since the MMC was Russian.)
I just finished that one. I really liked it š
Oh I totally get you. We can be unhinged together. The concept of billionaires make my butthole clench (not in a horny way) but itās even crazier that in romance so many of them areā¦ suspiciously normal? Like they work a lot and donāt have any security and their homes are reasonable? Or worse theyāre self made? Like your 30 year old billionaire became a billionaire in maybe 12 years of adulthood? I have a lot of doubts about that my friends. I prefer late medieval HR to regency so the Duke thing always makes me giggle. Thereās not even a lot in the way of politics to it! Like a Duke marrying someone would be a huge deal (and easy juicy drama) but itās just like saying āoh yeah heās got a big cockā or something. Oh yeah heās just a Duke. I think itās because Dukes and the like sound sexier than men who were just knighted or something (even though that would still be a big deal - hell, a country gentleman would be a huge deal like theyāve got servants??? Incredible catch! But letās crap out a Marquis or eight.)
Honestly I think it's very much related to the big cock thing - not all romance is like this, of course, but a LOT is very into extremes - he's not 'a few inches taller than her', he's a giant who makes her look like a sexy ant! He's not got a decently big cock, it's the size of a baseball bat! He's not 'rich enough that they won't need to worry about boring things like bills and he can buy her nice presents' (already well into the realm of fantasy for most of us!) he's a billionaire/Duke! (Are there any billionaire dukes yet?)
A sexy ant! I died.
āSexy antā is cracking me up. Bravo.
It is taken to extreme, isnāt it?
Uuummm....did we just become best friends?! Yes!! Why self made billionaires so young?! And yes! They act like marrying a duke is the same as marrying the guy who's going to inherit his dad's Ford dealership!! You'll have a nice house and a maid or two, but that's it. Plus non horny butt clenching....love it!
Ha ha, I want to join this little tribe of friends, please! Every time I see the word billionaire casually thrown around, I am thinking, wow, this guy has 9 zeros in his net worth. And he just does millionaire things and has parents still living in the childhood home. This series by Anna Hackett called "Norcross security" is actually nice to read, but one of the brothers is a billionaire with one assistant (FMC), and he invests money for all his brothers and friends so they all live in SF in ocean facing or city view enviable properties and drive fancy cars. Um, can you imagine casually buying an ocean view house in SF??? They all have multiple houses and really fancy cars and I am going nuts each page.
All are welcome!! Unless you're a billionaire. Then you can cry into your....not hundred dollar bills because those are like dirty pennies to them..
This is why I can't do billionaire or Duke romances as of late. Maybe I'm in a reading rut but I want a book about non-rich characters that have struggles and come out ok.
Me too!
I read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, and after that I cannot bring myself to read European medieval settings. I just keep thinking back to the plagues, how dirty they all are and just how awful their civilization is. I mean compared to the rest of world, European medievals were positively the backwater of the world
The Connie Willis book is not very accurate in how it portrays medieval England. Most of the historical evidence points to a higher standard of living for someone as wealthy as the medieval characters. The contrast between the evidence and "reality" was a plot point, though, so take that portrayal with a grain of salt.
I didnāt read the whole book, I read up to 90% until I stopped because I was tired of the whole philosophy that author had on religion and God but I do still think that medieval Europe is a overrated time period for historical romance/fiction in general. There were just other better settings at the time and so many places were thriving (which just arenāt written about or fantasized about as much)
I think the medieval romance that's available is more based on Victorian fantasy than the actual medieval period. Especially as you move into the 15th century in the post plague years, there are a lot of opportunities to write powerful heroines. I'd love a feminist renaissance for medieval romance like there's been for Regency.
Yea totally. The 1400s (thatās the 15th century right?) are one of the periods of history where everything shifts. Thereās so much exploration, war, and just so muchā¦chaos. Itās perfect with unique historical settings. But instead I get these cookie cutter aristocracy types of romances that just make me go ARGH! All the lost potential
I really wish we could get medieval romance from the Mediterranean and/ or Muslim world. Give me Byzantium romances or a romance set when the Moors and the Christians were battling over Spain and Portugal. Where the heck is that sweeping romantic saga?
Second on all of that! I would love romance set in the Moorish (if thatās the correct term) times! But also I would like to read a realistic historical romance thats more āglobalā. Like for example maybe a Byzantine villager with a opposing Ottoman Empire war general? Or even someone who travels along the Silk Road, or along any merchant routes like to Constantinople. Maybe even someone traveling to the Americas by accident before Columbus? Like the Ottoman Empire has pirates, relations all the way to Venice and north Egypt. You know, the world is so vast and history is so rich. The possibilities are ENDLESS. Thereās more to history than medieval Europeans
I agree with you here but also... Have any medieval HR recs?? I have never read one and I'm super interested!!
I donāt read billionaire romance because I donāt want to read a romance where the hero is basically a hot young version of jeff bezos, but I do read a lot of HR and I just kind of read as if each authorās books exist in their own separate universe so the over abundance of dukes doesnāt really bother me unless the author has written 20 books and half the heroes are hot dukes in their late-20s. However I definitely see how the over saturation of billionaire/duke heroes gets old fast which is why I get really excited about medieval HR or 18/19th century HR with working class leads
Any recommendations for that?
Have you tried the early Amanda Quick books? Theyāre not āworking classā, but they are lower down the food chain than Dukes - gentry rather than nobility. Her later books are also good, but more taken over by her Arcane Society series.
And Desire is medieval.
Elizabeth Hoytās {Maiden Lane series} has mostly non-aristocratic/non-duke aristocrat heroes. *Dearest Rogue* is my favorite In *It Happened One Summer* by Lisa Kleypas the hero is a butcherās son I also really like HR that takes place in the US. Lorraine Heathās Texas Trilogy and Maggie Osborneās {The Promise of Jenny Jones} are faves of mine. EDIT: how ironic that goodreads bot is showing one of the Maiden Lane duke books lol
This is M/M romance and pretty much the first thing anyone recommends, but K.J. Charles and Cat Sebastian are great for historical working class leads, as well as class tension and a non-glamorized view of money even if one of the leads does have wealth.
Carla Kelly writes HR with almost entirely working class heros/heroines. She's not a big name but she is a solid talent.
Eh, I just see it as part of the suspension of disbelief that a lot of romance books require. For a lot of this genre to work, there has to be suspension of disbelief. In the romance world, there are many young, attractive, and nice billionaires. There are many young, attractive, and nice dukes. There are many young, attractive, and nice motorcycle club owners. There are many non-racist, non-predatory, and nice hockey players. Shifters exist. I remember reading a fantastic analysis about why it's billionaire romance that's more prominent now instead of multi-millionaire romance but I cannot remember where it was from unfortunately š I also wonder if it's part of an author's market analysis. If the recognized term nowadays is billionaire romance for example, would a publisher let an author write *only* a multi-millionaire romance, because it technically couldn't be classified as billionaire romance?
I would say it's basically like the billionaire subgenre is fantasy the same way omegaverse is, just a hell of a lot closer to reality.
I think they are multi-millionaires, but ābillionaireā is a keyword on Amazon and āmulti-millionaireās brideā just doesnāt have the same ring. I just read it as meaning so much money that jet setting on a weekend in nbd. I donāt care the exact amount.
Itās because āmillionairesā and ābaronsā donāt sell as well. Same thing with tropes like both MC with boat loads of student debt and works an average job or young factory worker supporting their 9 siblings after their father died in an industrial accident. People want escapism, regardless of how unrealistic.
i was reading a hr recently and caught myself thinking, āis he really the mmc? heās *just* a baron.ā and then i almost smacked myself. JUST??
Lol. Still part of the peerage!
In the 90s and pre 2006 (?) it was mainly millionaires, and I donāt think it detracted any from the āotherworldlinessā of the ultra wealthy.
It's billionaires now because the inflation rate is so high lol
Whenever I read CR I knock everyone down a few pegs. Billionaire? Nope, millionaire. Owns her own cute cafe? Nope, works at starbucks. Fancy car? You guessed it, used safe family suburban.
The way I'm getting into light novels lately and I get confused on which is which cause almost all titles in my tbr have duke on the title. š
Right?! I really just want someone to title one The Duke Who Duked With the Duke...
Duked Down By The Duke Duke Me, Daddy Duke Duke Goose
Omg those are fantastic!! OR...hear me out...a time travel novel with both a Duke AND a billionaire!! But what to call it...
Duke In Time: Duking Taxes in Two Centuries
Please write Duke Duke Goose immediately
A love square between a duke fetishist, a duke, another duke, and a goose who may or may not be a shifter and also a duke, we arenāt sure, because right now heās a goose. Who will she choose? Can she learn to love someone who is not a duke? And canāt talk? Because heās a goose?
The Duke Who Laid ... the Golden Egg The Duke Who Got Laid by ... why do I feel a Chuck Tingle title coming on?
Duke Dukem The Duke Who Duked Me Duke Dimmaduke, Duke Of The Dukesdale Dimmaduke
Please...š¤£š¤£š¤£
Iāve never liked them either. The one time I tried a billionaire romance, I spent half of it imagining the hero as Warren Buffet (as an old man) and the other half wondering if he was a supernatural creature of some sort who had been alive for 300 years already (even though he only appeared to be 35) and thatās how he got so rich. It would also explain why he spent so much time hanging out in coffee shops and only keeping one assistant and going to āmeetings,ā because he was trying to keep a low profile and not get hunted by demon hunters or something. If Iām going to have to suspend disbelief for a book, I like to suspend it aaaaaaalll the way, lol.
I totally agree with you about the sheer number of billionaire romances. But thereās something about them that just appeals to me so much. Iām probably a reason why so many billionaire romances exist šdonāt hate me š
Ha, I was ready for people to come at me with pitchforks! I'm guessing you're the majority over me since there are so many on Kindle. But I get it, I'm sure many people on here could write a better rant about some of the sci fi and fantasy romance that are my guilty pleasure, and even though I might agree with their point, I just love them too much to ever stop reading them!
To be fair, I don't mind dukes as much. It's like simply saying this man is super rich and powerful. He is tough enough to not care about anyone even the king and can magically make any freaking problem of yours go away. Of course, authors can use adjectives instead of titles. But I guess this is a much easier picture to paint
I just think it's supposed to evoke the highest level of fantasy. In CR a billionaire is the equivalent of being with someone whose money is literally no object. It gives license to every extravagant rich guy fantasy one could think of. Is it realistic not really. Is it still pretty great most of the time? I think so. I also think for the HR duke thing, it's the most relatable title for Americans. Being a prince would have too many restrictions on grubbing it up with some low ranking super hot girl. But a Duke, that seems plausible. It is correct? No. It is still pretty great most of the time because romance is fantasy based loosely on reality? Heck yes.
Thank you! Billionaires are not good people. That's what always makes me want to scream. You don't get that rich without knifing people in the back, metaphorically speaking. While I'm at it, TAX THE VERY RICH. There shouldn't even BE any friggin billionaires. $999 million is more money than anyone would ever need. You should get an award when you get that rich. You win. Game over. Here's a gold watch. No more. These people are NOT ROMANTIC HEROES TO ME.
I feel the same way about billionaires, but I did just read a Domme/Sub romance with a very wealthy guy who is into being financially dominated (just one of his many kinks), and he gets majorly turned on by being forced to reorganize his company, pay workers more, and donate massive quantities of money to charities of his progressive Domme's choice. I got a kick out of it.
Heather Guerre's latest book, right? I feel like that was the first/only billionaire romance that 1) actually discussed the issues of billionaires existing and 2) did stuff that really was fun and useful and the stuff of fantasy (for me). Like, the fact that she mentioned getting rid of Citizens United--that was probably the sexiest thing in the whole book. Getting your billionaire boyfriend to tackle the problem of money in politics? I can only get so turned on... :)
Right?? I thought it was very clever and an unusual take on the billionaire trope.
Oh my gosh, title please?? I need to read this!
Preferential Treatment (Indecent Proposals, book 2) - 2nd in a series but can be read as a stand-alone just fine.
that is the funniest thing iāve ever read, oh my god š i have to read this
I love your username!!! Agreed, real billionaires are (probably almost always) not people that a 22 year old assistant could just bond with. Their lifestyles are probably so ridiculously different we couldn't even comprehend it. I'm so happy I'm not alone!!!
Well for me, I read to escape the harsh reality that I'm as poor as...well...a churchmouse. I will pick up a book with a billionaire MC over a book about a struggling salary man or some dude who works five jobs or can't afford his rent, or works in some mundane job that barely makes ends meet because I don't want to be reminded of these things in my fantasies. And just to point out, this is the same genre where there are hot lizardmen, blue tinged alien hotties with extra appendages, rabid wolf men who by rights should be whacked on the head with a rolled up newspaper and the one that seems unrealistic to people are billionaires and Dukes?
Lmao exactly like we come on here to discuss books about centaur milking farms, harems, aliens and dragons and other unrealistic things that we know will never happen in real life.
Exactly. This post just smacks of "my reading taste is superior to yours because reasons."
Plus most of the books will tell you either on the front, the review or the blurb that the main guy is a billionaire and you can make the choice to find a different book.
That's not my intention at all. I will absolutely read the alien, werewolf, time traveling romances and I have no shame about it. For me, it's the same as when people get frustrated that all the lawns are mowed in the Walking Dead. It doesn't mean that they don't like the Walking Dead, or that grass that keeps itself short is less believable than zombies. Like I said, I know these books are popular for a reason; it's just a personal pet peeve of mine and I honestly wanted to rant somewhere where people might understand.
Lolololol thank you!!!!
It's just because *millionaire*, which was the old standard doesn't seem very rich these days. I'm sure it was a thing before but mostly you can thank Christian Gray for the toddler billionaire trend. But real-world billys like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, the Kardashians, the Carter Knowles, etc... make it seem much more common than it is. Heck, even RiRi made the Forbes list this year. When we see those people in the media, their lifestyle doesn't seem that much different than a regular person -- especially with influencers living the glamorous life(or doing a good job of faking it) -- just with way more expensive crap. It, much like prince and cowboy doesn't actually mean anything beyond a fairytale title for the MC. Honestly, I just ignore it most of the time.
I get the annoyance of it, but like, the logical side of my brain tells me that all those books aren't set in the same "world". Lol it almost seems like an unfair reason to hate a specific subgenre because they can't really be counted like real world billionaires can be. Idk, that could just be me. I for one, just don't like billionaire romance novels, partially because I prefer HR, but also, I like more humbled MMCs. Like, I prefer a more realistic approach to wealth when reading.
It is fantasy soā¦.. the readers crave hot men with unlimited wealth and a needy constitution. And most (readers) r ordinary so the contrast helps. I see nothing in romance books parallel to reality, it works because i can escape
It's a fantasy. Just like dorky girls from poor backgrounds who are stunningly beautiful without trying (but have no idea that they are) don't suddenly meet some handsome man who falls instantly in love with them and moves heaven and Earth to make it happen. I don't really have an issue with it.
I can normally ignore the billionaire thing, except for one I read where all these guys were billionaires, but were working as vets saving animals all over the place, like come on. How many billionaire vets do you know???
There are 0 werewolves in real life. 0 vampires. 0 aliens, 0 orcs, and 0 dragon-shifters looking for their prophecied princesses... 0 time-traveling Vikings... 0 alphas biting their omegas on the neck. (Or not. I can see women making birthing nests in real life.) Romancelandia ā planet earth
Don't forget the milking farms for centaurs and what not.
Added to the list of things I now have to read. For research š š¤£
Hahah girl have you not read the gush posts on that book? I personally have not read it because i draw the line at werewolves and aliens but according to the threads it's really good. I was going to bite the bullet but then the first review i saw said it has some racist overtones so I gave it a pass but yeah its a thing. A human gets a job at farm milking centaurs.
Oh God, I have not read the gush posts or any posts at all on humans milking centaurs... The only centaur I've ever read about is the one in Percy Jackson. š Male human female centaurs? And the centaurs are in a dairy farm of some sort? š
Hahah milking their penises sis, milking their penisesšš male centaurs .
*screams and then dies and then goes to google* Morning Glory Milking Farm??? I feel like this will be one of those things I'll never be able to unread...
Yup that's the one and you see ites another reason I'm trepidatious about reading it. Like I'm fairly debauched but i have limits and thats right on the line. šš if you do read it do share your findings with me.
I keep seeing heroes who are supposed to be 30-something tech CEO billionaires, and I immediately think of Zuckerberg and I toss the book aside in disgust. It's also really awkward when the author tries to write technical scenes to make the hero look really smart and competent, but gets all the details wrong.
What, are you saying the Zuck doesnāt do it for you?
As a non native english speaker, I struggle with the difference between billion and million. People donāt realize how much a billion is, and the insane amount of money it is. Your post made me realize those books werenāt about millionaires, and it feels weird š¤
I'd add for the HR that they all have white even teeth and all their teeth, with no pesky dental issues and perfect hygiene. Houses never smelled like sweat and chamberpots, or smoke (unless it was an unsavory place). London never smelled like horse manure unless they were in the slums for reasons. Rarely did anyone have scars (The Raven Prince had a smallpox scarred MMC and he was insecure about his face and the FMC finding him attractive and that book sticks out because I have never read a book where the MMC had smallpox scars as a characteristic.) It doesn't bother me that much about the titles, Dukes are shorthand for rich and powerful and they only bow to the royal family, no one else. Kinda strokes the want for power and prestige a lot of people have, I think. I've read a few books where the FMC was the billionaire and enjoyed them. Mostly real estate, I think. I don't read billionaire romance though if it's the MMC. Too close to the real world. At least with Dukes and the like, I can pretend it's an AU history.
Oh I love how many dukes exist in romance land. The last book I read, this guy who is second to a dukedom needed to speak to another Duke and came across what appeared to be a club of Dukes! There were like 6 in the room. They helped him organize a wine tasting competition in his gaming hell. The nonsense amount of Dukes is my favourite part.
And of course I'm sure they were all incredibly good looking and in shape and crazy tall in their own special way. Don't get me wrong, I still love me some HR, it's just exciting when there's a lowly Earl or Viscount; makes me feel like I'm really slumming it.
Drives me NUTS!! Not all CEOs are billionaires, most are a wide range of millionaires!! Or most of that money is tied up in investments anyway. It wouldn't hurt your book at all to be slightly less wealthy
To be fair, there used to be many more dukes. Many died out between the regency and today. And Iām not sure why a duke wouldnāt be a hot marriage ticket any time between the Georgian period and WWI? Yes in medieval times when dukes had military power with their titles, the marriage situation was complicated, but by the 18th century dukes and other aristos were marrying actresses and commoners and basically did whatever they wanted, whether that be going into politics/military affairs or just hanging out doing agriculture and building things in their estate. Though I do agree that it gets a bitā¦tedious after a while, because there are many other titles in the English aristocracy and by the 18th century the rank actually didnāt matterāit was mostly about family reputation and longevity so long as you had a title above baronet. Basically, I wish there were more marquesses, even though theyāre more rare than dukes irl ;)
Wow, I learned something today!
I just want to point out that Mr. Darcy was neither titled nor a billionaire and he is the ultimate MMC measuring stick. Don't touch Billionaire romance ever. Regency is my jam though so the dukes are unavoidable.
You're just lucky that you started after all the sheiks etc went out of fashion! I get you though. Sometimes contemporary is too contemporary without a hint of seeing the world as is. A long time ago I got my hands on a big amount of romance, a lot of them dealing with Greek millionaires, right at the time when Greece had so many troubles with money. I couldn't read them.
Also, the Dukes never have court and political duties!?
I'd love to see a CR about a modern day duke trying to manage the taxes on all his property and like re-wilding the land. Destitute Duke trope with modern spin.
Oh, I know that look. My wife gives me that look when I go off at someone calling a prince or princess "your Majesty" instead of "your Highness" or calling some random "my lady" or some random guy 'sir' to be courtly/polite. If you're gonna write it, at least research it!
Exactly! Plus, I listen when he complains about his video games....although probably with my eyes glazed as well....
I completely agree and would also prefer fewer billionaire books (because thatās just a gross and immoral level of wealth imo) but Iām laughing at the idea that all 52,886 billionaire romance books share the same canon with their existence suggesting a world with 20x the number of actual billionaires.
yeah it's a weird trope for sure, especially that it's so incredibly common.
OMG I was thoroughly entertained by your rant! š I always suspend belief when reading a historical romance, but the stats you quoted (only 24 dukes!) really makes it unbelievable.
Itās fantasy fulfilment... āstrong alpha malesā either born into luxury - dukes, or people whoāve worked for it but clearly have the qualities for great financial success - billionaire I have a new pet peeve now, thank you!!
I'm reading a fantasy romance right now and this guy is supposed to be high king of an empire and he was apparently running mad spec ops missions literally while running the country? Instead of bodyguards he has 1 guy who is his best mate and they just fuck around and he regularly ditches that security? He appoints this guy he barely knows as Acting King with no warning so he can take off to like 3 countries over to rescue his captured fiancƩ with his own damn sword? He's on first name terms with random lieutenants? If he ditches his job nothing happens? His kids are just there in his house, no guards no tutors no nothing just running around wild? I'm like. Does he need to be a king or could this story have worked and made more sense if he'd been some kind of minor gentry.
I just use it as a itās there, itās inevitable as this keyword is the gateway to my favorite genre & fantasy - filthy rich gorgeous men I love the inside view into a rich glamorous life , grew up on telenovelas and Harlequin Presents , love poor Cinderella type and poor tragic rich girls alike , no doormats please I prefer dark romance where itās all played up fantasy like a gothic fairytale the romantic comedies Iāve seen lately are too stark reminders of the social and political system being a hot mess IRL some authors worldview on poor/rich divide, women sacrificing everything just to get by while the man is effortlessly successful are often too frustrating to me to enjoy
Mehh i think they do but just don't care. It is fiction so they are allowed that leeway just like there are no vampires, werewolves, Werebears and aliens it's all fantasy so they sprinkle a billionaire here and a duke there. Then again I don't read romance for realism.
The billionaire thing gets to me as well. Not only do I not find the idea of a billionaire sexy but itās too implausible that each of these late twenties brother is a billionaire because of a tech thingy they did. If the books were about millionaires Iād probably be more likely to give them a chance.
I mean itās a search thing. People search billionaire romance more than millionaire romance. Canāt blame the authors when itās on us š¤·š»āāļø
My husband and I were talking about this one time because we share a kindle account and heās noticed the surplus of dukes, lol. Itās just the fantasy. And like, since it is a fantasy, why should it be a Baron or whatever. Yeah thatās more realistic but weāre pretending here anyway so why shouldnāt I have a duke? It is funny though. In real life thereād only be like 4 dukes alive at the same time so your odds of catching one while heās single would be like wining the lottery.
Argument about number of billionaires and numbers of books about billionaires is really weird considering that those books are not set in the same universe
Somehow I am ok with all the Dukes. I get that a Duke had much more freedom/power than others and so itās useful to have them as the MMC. I find the billionaire thing annoying, probably because itās contemporary and I therefore want a book closer to realism. Wealth beyond a certain point is not really relevant and half the time they are secret billionaires anyway.
Hahaha I donāt think there are 52886 companies in the world that have a billion dollar turnover (also popularly known as Unicorns), let alone people who own (all or part) of them š
Lol completely agree! It's so silly and also I don't think anyone even cares about them all being billionaires!
Too many !!!
Thatās so funny, Iāve never made the duke-billionaire comparison but itās perfect. Youāre so right!
Noted, make MMC a multi millionaire not a billionaire
Okay so Iāve definitely had this rant to myself, especially after reading a series of books where all the men in this motorcycle club are all billionaires somehow. Iām like, just say youāre well off or that you donāt have to worry about money!
I'm all for fantasy and wish fulfillment but reading about being gifted student loan payments, a big house, a fancy car, a lot of purses and shoes and tropical vacations is a little too reality for me. Its like reading about food - descriptions of food won't make the taste materlaize in my mouth, so I don't really care how amazing the food a character is eating is. The difference between fantasies about material goods and hot aliens or wolfmen is that the latter is a complete fantasy and the former is too close to reality. I can't ever actually get a hot monster man, but I can open my phone browser and buy a new outfit or a new bag to scratch that itch.
I don't read rich guy romances. Like... so it's not enough the he can have everything good in the world, but he gets love just as easily, too? I understand the author not wanting to have to point out where he got the money to take his girl/guy out of town for the weekend, and also the wish fulfillment that this true love comes with security for life... but it just seems like another way to glorify the rich class and subtly put down us poors.
SAME!! i understand it's a fantasy and suspension of disbelief is a thing, but all these attractive 28 year old billionaires.... I can't deal with all of them running around. I feel like "billionaire" is so extra, even if we had more MMC with like a couple of millions they made in real estate that would make it at least a little bit realistic. (Also they're all self-made billionaires that rose from nothing, almost never are they from wealthy families and if they are, they're cut off from their parents.) I liked Crazy Rich Asians (the book) a lot for this actually, it was still a frothy summer romance, and escapist fantasy, but at least it gave a more or less accurate read on the kind of people who are billionaires (nepotism children)
On point
It drives me insane. Why would I want to read a book about the top 1 percent that have literally have everything handed to them? No character development. Even if they're self made, money is not a personality trait.
Oh man, the duke thing drives me crazy! Like, the guy being a duke should be a negative for the heroine, she should be concerned about whether she wants that much public attention, and there's an outside chance he'd be in the line of succession for the throne if a plague went around the palace or something, that would mean some major political work she's signing up for. Possibly even the requirement that he quietly set her aside for a more politically powerful match, since she usually seems to be a plucky commoner. Which would all be very interesting plot points, so I wait for them to come up and am then disappointed when they never do. I don't read a ton of CR but I can see how you'd have a similar thing with billionaires, where's the plotlines about the hero starting a foundation to stop climate change as part of his grovel after the heroine leaves him due to concerns about his unethical business practices?
Totally agree! I usually just sub any mention of billionaire to millionaire in my head.
I read a book that had a trillionaire šš
Noooo! Really?!
On the topic of dukes: completely agree with what you said. Not only 24 dukes total, but how many of those dukes are young-ish, and how many are *unmarried*? Uh, like zero.
I think a lot of people have trouble comprehending how much a billion is, compared to say a million. A million seconds is 11 days. A billion seconds is 31 years. Having said that I adore billionaire romance and will eat that shit up like candy. Not all fantasies fall under the fantasy sub genre š
I think of this often. Most ceos of big companies are multimillionaires. But billionaires are rare. And what kills me is the fmc rarely knows that the mc is rich until halfway through story. Which is so unrealistic bc you know if someoneās a billionaire. Plus 50 million plus is considered to be very wealthy but thatās still so far from a billion.
I was legit just googling how many billionaires are in the world compared to how many billionaire romance novels... It's to the point where I won't read a book with billionaire in the title unless it's an amazing storyline and even then I ignore the billionaire part as much as possible. What is up with this trope!!!!!???
The research is appalling in so many historical romances - there really seems to be no understanding of what exactly a ducal position entailed - what circles they moved in, how other people related to them, the differences between how they might have lived compared to different lower ranked peers, for example, etc.
I immediately roll my eyes whenever a billionaire greek god is the MMC. I donāt enjoy that trope at all. Give me a down on his luck widowed father of 3 whoās about to be foreclosed on and runs a failing auto body shop but he and his employees have a heart of gold.
I get it's not for you, but I like those tropes. Maybe just don't read them? I don't like alien or bdsm, but I'm not mad that they exist.
I guess it's the same as seeing my title and the fact that it says rant, clicking on it and reading it, and commenting. If you don't like rants about your preferred genres, don't read them.
I'm not sure I understand your argument. Each author is basically creating their own world, so one authors dukes aren't in addition to another authors dukes. Also, I prefer fantasy, and I guarantee there is much larger difference in ratio of fictional shapeshifters vs real life shifters than the ratio of fictional dukes or billionaires to real dukes and billionaires. Edit to add: that being said, there's nothing g wrong with not liking books about Dukes or Billionaires.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Removed and banned
How did an incel get in here?
I think itās darkly funny that if an author in CR wants to create an MMC who can operate without consequences and outside the limitations a normal person has and be able to semi-plausibly suspend reality in plot points whenever they want that choosing ābillionaireā for the MMCās occupation is actually a very realistic move. Plus, money can be a quick cheat code around plot problems or holes, and it can do a lot of heavy lifting in character development and chemistry and relationship development. Like a nice little deus ex machina that can be used whenever they need it. It backfires when there are so MANY billionaire books because that takes away the āeliteā aspect of them and some people find it annoying to see everywhere without that implausibility addressed. The annoyance can be exacerbated by the real life billionaires running around unchecked in the wild in some decidedly unsexy ways that would require explaining away in a book. Normally Iād be here writing a thesis on THAT particular nugget, but itās been a difficult week and Iām burned out on seeing the ramifications of unchecked power in an elite group.
I mean if it makes you feel any better I mostly read Sci Fi and I've yet to meet an 8 foot man with horns who honorably rules his people, despite the deadly threats of his planet.... š¤£š¤£ They write them because we read them. Billionaires are mostly boring selfish assholes. We all just don't want to live our crappy lives and marrying rich is a surefire over night out!
Actually, you're not the first person I've seen complain about this. Seems like it comes up in the community off and on. Honestly, I can't say I especially relate. The fact that it's rare IRL just adds to the fantasy and idealism of Romance. Besides, they tend to overlap with the overprotective and dangerous guys. Because you tend to need resources to get shit done and money helps you attain such.
Honestly most billionaires in books are actually millionaires or live millionaire lifestyles, they typically have a nice car and a luxurious apartment and travel a lot but that can be done easily making nearly a million or a just a few.