Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Bondage, Part 1

You see them all over the place, on the bestseller lists, in ads on Goodreads, on the front pages on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and probably on the front tables at brick&mortar bookstores and prominently displayed at Target. Novels about a fabulously wealthy, hot, tormented hunk who sets eyes on some sweet young thing and decides he is going to have his way with her (or possibly him; I'm not conversant with m/m romance but I wouldn't be surprised if this trend exists in that sector too) and won't take No for an answer. Kink ensues. (Note: I haven't actually read any of these, but I've read a bunch of book descriptions and reviews on GoodReads. Close enough for literary analysis, right? :-D)

So, being the hard-blogging author that I am, I decided to examine my own novels through the lens of the 3 B's to see how they stack up to the latest hot trend, on a totally arbitrary scale from 1 to 10. This will be a series of three posts because there's a lot to talk about. (Oh, and as I'll be talking about books of mine that I haven't released yet, I will do my utmost to avoid spoilers. As always, the disclaimer is that these are romances in addition to being fantasy, so the more-or-less HEA is a given.)

First up: Billionaires.

The guys in these books are all fabulously, obnoxiously, breathtakingly rich. They are in their 20's and own half of Manhattan or Seattle or wherever. They seduce women in the offices of their world conglomerate headquarters and at expensive hotels where one night costs the same as a mortgage payment or two or four for us regular folks.

Let's examine the heroes from my first five books (Urdaisunia, Chosen of Azara, The Lost Book of Anggird, Sarya's Song, and the Daughter of the Wildings series - which is actually six books but I'll consider it as one) through the billionaire filter.

In Urdaisunia, Prince Eruz is the High Prince, the heir to the throne. Pretty good deal, right? He's gonna be king one day! Awesome :) But...the land of Urdaisunia has been suffering from worsening drought, food shortages, and epidemics for years, and has enemies from all sides, inside the country and out (and above), eyeing it so they can exploit what few resources it still has. Still sounds great, right? Oh, and his position as heir to the throne depends on the approval of his seriously disapproving father and his ability to outsmart his scheming brothers. All things considered, just chucking everything and running off to start over from scratch somewhere else starts to look pretty good.
Billionaire rating: 6

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Chosen of Azara: Sevry is an actual, real live king. Yay! But he's got no country, no people, no home, no nothing. All he's got to offer a girl is an empty land, a ruined convent, a pure heart, and a willingness to work hard.
Billionaire rating: 1

The Lost Book of Anggird: Roric is a professor, a highly valued breed in the Vorunne Dominion, and he's one of the elite of the elite. He's extremely well-compensated, both in salary (though he seldom has to actually handle any money himself) and in the living accomodations and other perks he's provided with. And then one night it all goes kablooey and he finds himself left with nothing but the love of a good woman (or not?), a price on his head, and an interesting new talent (as one of the test readers put it).
Billionaire rating: 2

Sarya's Song: Adan is the heir of a fabulously wealthy family. Want to know how wealthy? Allow me to refer you to this quote from the book:

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Adan Muari, tall, handsome, well built, auburn haired, heir of a family that owned nearly a quarter of Msaka Ras and a substantial portion of Msaka Dolna, possessed a True baritone voice of divine quality and extraordinary [magical] strength, and an equally extraordinary opinion of himself.

Msaka Ras and Msaka Dolna are not companies, nor buildings, nor city blocks. They aren't cities, or counties, or provinces, or even countries. They're continents. So yes, he's incredibly rich. But if the world's going to end, what difference does money make?
Billionaire rating: 10. or maybe 11.

Daughter of the Wildings: Silas was born into one of the elitest of the elite mage families in Granadaia. He walked away from it all because he seriously disapproves of everything his family stands for and believes in, and they feel the same way about him. So now he's just making his way as a bounty hunter across the Wildings. If he catches a good bounty with a good price, he lives well for a while. No captures, no money. But he has his freedom and his integrity, which mean more to him than money any day.
Billionaire rating: 2

Conclusion: Money and status aren't everything, and can be lost just like that. When you've got nothing left but yourself (or, in a relationship, when you've got nothing left but each other), that's when you see what you're really made of: money and status, or something more substantial.

So far Adan is in the lead with a B,BB,&B rating of 11 (on a scale of 1 to 10). Next post: we'll see how he and the other guys stack up on the twin measures of Bad Boy-ness, inner torment and jackassery. Stay tuned!

To see Camille LaGuire's take on this theme, start with this post on her blog: http://daringnovelist.blogspot.com/2013/09/day-6-and-billionaire-bad-boy-scale.html