~posted by Marlene H.
As the saying goes, “the love of money is root of all evil.” But to paraphrase another saying, “everybody needs roots.” Or, to put it the way that a lot of mothers do, “it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich person as a poor one.” We always hope it’s a joke!
In celebration of Money Smart Week, let’s take a look at different ways that money and love can be intertwined to make a romance work—or fall apart.
Laura Hemphill’s coming of age story is all about Sophie Landgraf, and whether she is buying in or selling out by slaving away for Sterling Bank in the days before the entire banking industry goes into a tailspin. Buying In isn’t a romance, per se, it’s really the portrait of the banker as a young woman. What Sophie loves is the rush of the deal, and the thrill of finding a place where she fits, and work that completely enthralls her. In pursuit of that job, that dream of making a difference, Sophie falls out of love with her college boyfriend and abandons most of her personal relationships In the end, she finds herself asking if giving everything she had brings her to where she wants to be.
In stock-market terms, a “rare event” is sometimes referred to as a “black swan event”, something unpredictable and rare. Also usually disastrous, like a hurricane. In P.D. Singer’s The Rare Event, one stockbroker at the hedge fund wants stability and craves as much predictability as can be found in a high-risk game like the hedge fund market. His lover and fellow stockbroker always risks big, and never plans for tomorrow. And just as he is unwilling to hedge his bets in the market, he is also unwilling to commit to a relationship. So Jon and Ricky play a high-stakes game at work, and risk the crash and burn of their on again/off again relationship away from the office, until Jon’s past comes back to tear up the teetering status quo in both his personal and professional lives.
While the crash of 2008 makes for a fascinating backdrop to any story about love and money, there is also a traditional way for romance to get to the heart of getting rich. There’s always that possibility of marrying rich. The trope used to be about finding a millionaire, but with inflation, the trend is toward tripping over a billionaire in need of love.
The first book in the Marriage to a Billionaire series by Jennifer Probst takes the classic romance trope of the “fake marriage” and gives it a modern twist in The Marriage Bargain. A bookstore owner needs to save her family home, and a billionaire needs a wife in order to inherit his father’s corporation. Since the bookstore owner is the billionaire’s sister’s childhood friend, a one-year marriage in name only seems like the solution to both of their dilemmas. Of course, falling in love with each other is not part of either of their plans.
Marrying money is complicated! Making money in high-stakes careers is risky. Mixing the two is explosive.
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