It’s Launch season – billionaire style!
For the next several months, I will focus on relaunching the Beguiling Bachelors romances, my original series about four billionaire friends searching for love. In honor of the rewrites and the new launch efforts, I thought I would celebrate billionaires, billionaire romances and the billionaire lifestyle here on the blog.
Do you remember the TV show, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous?” Think of this as a scaled down version, a very scaled down version. Back then it was enlightening to peek behind the scenes at a life we could never have, and it still is.
Living the Billionaire Life—Vicariously
How do I know? I do it for a living! Seriously, I clip articles about butlers and yachts, private planes and exotic vacations. I Google the most expensive suits and ties, or cars, uncovering a treasure trove too good to keep to myself. Or maybe too ridiculous to keep to myself.
My novels are not over the top with butlers and yachts, but I do love to slip in a Turnbull & Asser tie now and then (average price $350) or a custom Zegna Suit (starting price $4,000) or a new Tesla or Porsche.
Real Estate and the Beguiling Billionaires
Perhaps the best entertainment has been finding homes for my Bachelors and their lady loves. After all, my novels revolve around four men born into privilege dominating the finance and real estate industries in Chicago and surrounding area. I located them in Lake Forest, IL, a bastion of wealth in my backyard.
Then the fun began. Finding eye-popping real estate along Chicago’s lakefront and then condos and townhouses in its exalted Gold Coast, where the men live now. I combed real estate inserts in the Sunday papers, picked up magazines about luxury. I dipped my toes into a world I could only imagine.
Some of my favorites come later in the series—Regan’s temporary digs for example, based on a real building in Chicago, 9 Walton, where concierge service, wine storage, a house car, and dog run are only a few of the offerings. A real billionaire paid $58 million to own the top four floors, over 17,000 square feet of space, with an additional 1200 or more of patios. Not bad. Or Missy’s house on the lake in Glencoe based on a house I found for sale while I was writing Bedeviled. The indoor golf course and the multiple patios overlooking the lake all caught my imagination.
When I started Bedazzled, I wasn’t confident enough to go all out, but the first book in the series, Bedazzled, still had some lovely billionaire touches. And I grew braver from there. Watch for more examples in upcoming blog posts.
Meet Wyatt and his Creature Comforts
SPOILER ALERT: When I started the first Beguiling Bachelor book, I had no plans to create a series. I gave Wyatt Howe, IV (fondly called Ivy in reference to the roman numerals following his name) three friends so that he would have someone to talk to. You’ve seen the best friend, the sister or brother, the confidant in movies and books. They help our hero share his story with the reader. I gave Wyatt three friends, and a lot of brothers and sisters, and the series was launched. For Wyatt, I pictured a young Bradley Cooper. When you read it, who did you envision as Wyatt?
Then I gave him a fancy car, a Porsche Panamera SE. Why? Because I parked near one often and it appealed to me. Price tag? A cool $100,000. Look? Sleek and sexy. The one parked near me was white, and I wanted it. Not in my lifetime, sadly, so I wrote about it instead. But if you are disgustingly rich, why settle for one $100K car when you can have two? Enter the Range Rover, retail price $94K or more.
The man buys art, has his house professionally decorated. I considered these minimum requirements for my billionaire. I alluded to the right address by discussing Wyatt’s proximity to Chicago’s famous Oak Street Beach. That placed him in one of the highest-rent districts of Chicago—its famed Gold Coast.
Wyatt wore elegant suits, custom suits, but when I wrote Bedazzled, I didn’t name drop as much as I would later. Except about Chicago. I named some of the finest restaurants, restaurants I only dream of patronizing someday, where meals run in the hundreds to thousands, depending on wine choices.
Chicago as You’ve Never Seen It
I based the Howe Museum on Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Keeli serves at a party in the world-famous Art Institute of Chicago, but she lives in a trendy neighborhood for young people early in their careers looking for affordable rents. I tried to stay authentic, and readers who know Chicago gave it thumbs up in their Amazon reviews.
“I got to learn…about places I know and visit in Chicago, while becoming engaged with people who seem to jump off the page into my surroundings. Thanks, Madison Michael, for putting this out there!”
Authentic, alluring, and out of reach, that’s the world of the Beguiling Bachelors. If you haven’t explored their entitled world. Watch this space, or follow me on Amazon or Facebook to be notified when the books re-release.
Better yet, get the first story for free. Join my Insiders group today and I will send you a free copy of Studmuffin, a standalone novella, my bi-monthly newsletter full of updates, news around the romance world and other goodies, as well as Bewildered: A Beguiling Bachelor Sequel, as soon as it becomes available. Download Studmuffin here to get started.
And watch for the relaunch of the entire Beguiling Bachelor series beginning in time for Valentine’s Day.