Crafting Interesting and Relatable Billionaire Characters by Delaney Diamond
I absolutely love writing the billionaire trope. I’ve written alpha a-holes, playboys, and charming heroes. In each book, I get to live out a fantasy life where money is no object and you can enjoy the fruits of your labor—or the inheritance from your parents’ labor. Private jets, mansions, haute couture, and exquisite cuisine are the norm.
It’s easy to think of billionaire characters as one-dimensional, but I like to think of them as people with normal problems; they just happen to be filthy rich. From there I can craft interesting characters that readers can relate to, even for the powerful a-hole ones.
I do this in a few ways.
First, I show the billionaire having relatable problems. Next, I add depth by giving them an interesting backstory, and then, I humanize them by showing their emotional side.
Relatable ProblemsBillionaires live in a world that’s different from the rest of us, and therefore don’t understand the problems of the average person. The disparity between a wealthy person’s lifestyle and the average person’s lifestyle can be quite stark.
They’re not living paycheck to paycheck. They’re not sitting in traffic on a long commute, and if they are, it’s in the comfort of a limo or luxury vehicle while someone else drives and they work in the back seat.
Having a car break down could mean lost wages from missing work and then struggling to find alternative transportation. A billionaire simply picks another car from their fleet of vehicles and keeps it moving.
Since our lives are different, it’s important to create a character with relatable problems. In the case of Bruno, in my latest release Bruno (Family Ties, book 4), the hero is a billionaire chef and entrepreneur, but he’s tired of the dating scene and has decided to work with a matchmaker.
In the opening chapter, we see Bruno on a date that is not going well. After he drops off his date, he has a short conversation with his driver:
“Home please, Orson,” Bruno told the older man, and slid onto the plush leather of the interior.
They pulled away from the curb.
“Consider yourself lucky that you’re happily married. You don’t want to be out here like me, struggling,” Bruno said.
Orson met his gaze in the rearview mirror, amusement in his eyes. “I count my blessings every day.”
The average person can relate Bruno’s dating fatigue, and in fact his frustrations add a bit of humor to the situation, which makes him all the more relatable.
An Interesting BackstoryGiving a billionaire character an interesting backstory is another way to add depth and make them interesting. The backstory could include an explanation of how they managed to become as wealthy as they are and delve into their motivations.
Rather than reading about someone who simply accumulates wealth, explaining the character’s motivations makes for a more layered character that’s interesting to readers. In the case of Bruno, his first love broke his heart when she left him as a young chef when he was working long hours.
Bruno could have had his parents finance his first restaurant, but he chose not to. Instead, he wanted to learn the restaurant business from the bottom. He explains his reasoning to the heroine, Marissa, in the following scene:
“Her favorite words were, ‘You work too much,’ and her final words to me were ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ She didn’t understand that I didn’t want to take the easy way out. I had been handed everything in my life. I wanted to earn my place as a chef, and that meant long hours and starting from the bottom, the way everyone else did.”
Humanize ThemI enjoy writing ice-cold billionaires, but all billionaires need to be humanized to be fully enjoyed by readers—and this makes for a more interesting character.
As a reader myself, when I’m reading another author’s work, this is the part that always sucks me in and makes me fall for the hero. He might be an ice-cold alpha-hole, but there’s a reason for it, and I appreciate when authors peel back the layers and allow us to see the human side of the character by letting us see emotion from them.
The emotion doesn’t have to be sadness or anger. It could be joy. It could be showing them being playful and teasing, especially with the heroine. Below is a mini-excerpt showing just that—a teasing Bruno. He and Marissa are at his brother’s wedding. They’re dancing to a song and then the music changes:
Minutes later, they were dancing to “Beautiful” by Snoop Dogg and Pharrell.
Bruno twirled Marissa around the dance floor and surreptitiously grabbed her ass.
“Quit,” she said, laughing and shoving away his hand.
“You know I can’t help myself,” he murmured, pulling her in close to bury his face in her neck.
She moaned and latched her arms around his neck. She kissed his jaw. “Behave. Your obsession with ass is unhealthy.”
There are other scenes where we see the couple flirting and teasing, all of which make Bruno the billionaire more interesting than if he’d been a rich-man caricature.
ConclusionOverall, the billionaire trope is one of my favorites to read and to write. Not only for the fantasy life the characters live, but also because when written well, the storyline includes characters that are interesting and relatable.
About The AuthorDelaney Diamond is a USA Today Bestselling Author of more than 50 contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels, and dozens of romance short stories. She reads romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, and a fair amount of nonfiction. When she’s not busy reading or writing, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale. To get sneak peeks, notices of sale prices, and find out about new releases, join her mailing list. And enjoy free stories on her website at delaneydiamond.com.
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Bruno SynopsisSparks fly between a matchmaker and her billionaire client, blurring the lines between love and professionalism.
Entrepreneur and acclaimed chef Bruno Santana is tired of the dating scene and reluctantly hires matchmaker Marissa Liburd to help him find a wife. As he embarks on a series of dates, none of the women measure up, and he quickly realizes why. Despite Marissa’s professional demeanor, he’s increasingly attracted to her and drawn to her warmth and personality during their consultations.
Marissa, a single mom juggling the demands of her career and son, faces an unexpected challenge. She’s captivated by Bruno, who embodies everything a woman could want. He’s successful, good-looking, and very wealthy.
Dating clients is strictly forbidden, and Marissa grapples with the intense chemistry simmering between them—aware that giving in could jeopardize everything she’s worked hard for—her reputation and her livelihood.
Bruno – Where To BuyAdd to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212397611-bruno
