This request came to us from author Dahlia Adler on Twitter!
Dahlia is looking for romances with great white collar/blue collar pairings where the different career dynamics are explored well.
Amanda: Do you think Rebel Hard would work with this? I haven’t quite finished it yet, but I remember the hero early on in the book mentioning how his blue collarness made him stand out at the party where he meets Nayna.
Sarah: Definitely.
One that is much older but immediately pops into my mind is Perfect ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and definitely Paradise by Judith McNaught ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Amanda: Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), maybe? It’s been ages since I’ve read it.
Mechanic heroine, architect hero.
Sarah: Oh – the fourth wedding book by Nora Roberts. Parker and her mechanic Mal.
Happy Ever After ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) – that’s it!
What romances would you recommend for this pairing? Tell us in the comments below!
One of my all-time favorites: TIME SERVED by Julianna Keyes. She’s a lawyer, he’s an ex-con who works at a warehouse-type grocery store. They have a “history.”
Would Anne Calhoun’s LIBERATING LACEY count? She has a job in finance and comes from a wealthy background. He’s a cop (also younger than her).
Alexis Hall’s m/m FOR REAL: One hero is a doctor, the other is a short-order cook (also much younger).
I notice most (m/f pairing) books that fit the white collar/blue collar dynamic definitely skew female=white collar, male=blue collar. I know for variety of reasons Billionaire romances are not always popular, but a lot of those reverse the blue-white dynamic.
Alex Hall’s Glitterland (one hero is an Oxbridge-educated novelist; the other is an aspiring model); the difference in cultural capital between them is a huge part of the conflict.
Cara McKenna’s Hard Time (the heroine is a prison librarian; the hero is in prison when she meets him, he goes into landscaping when he is released). McKenna’s After Hours (CNA heroine, orderly hero) might also work.
Ruthie Knox’s Along Came Trouble (the heroine is a lawyer; the hero installs her security system). This one is interesting because the heroine’s ex husband is a college professor and he was awful (TW for that, though).
In Courtney Milan’s Trade Me, the two protags are both in college, but his family is white-collar and hers is blue, and the class dynamic is really well done.
KJ Charles’s A Gentleman’s Position and A Seditious Affair are both excellent m/m historical with one blue collar hero and one white.
‘Thirsty’ by Mia Hopkins! Ex-con struggling to start over falls for the good girl next door. Just perfect in every way – Hopkins is such a fantastic writer. ‘Trashed’, the next in the series, is out soon and also features a blue collar/white collar combo, I believe.
Just want to add CWs for dubcon/attempted rape in ‘Time Served’ which DiscoDollyDeb recc’d above FYI
Act Like It has some of those elements to it where they both work in the theater but come from different backgrounds. Lucy Parker seems good at capturing the class aspects of England and the theater world.
I feel like it comes up in some of the Sarina Bowen college books as well though I can’t think of which ones.
Mary Balogh’s The Proposal has elements of this where the hero sees himself as still middle/working while the heroine is very much upper/nobility. Historical class issues don’t always map as completely onto blue collar/white collar but Balogh does a great job with them.
Aaah you are great – thank you all!
A few m/m examples. Is the dynamic more common in m/m novels? It sometimes seems so–I think on the basis that so many blue-collar professions are still considered default-masculine realms…
Rhys Ford:
There’s This Guy – real estate developer/metalworker
Fish Stick Fridays – wealthy bookstore owner/mechanic
Hanging the Stars – lawyer/baker
Amy Lane:
It’s Not Shakespeare – professor/mechanic
Cardeno C.
Strong Enough – professor/construction worker
Definitely Liberating Lacey – the heroine is older, from a posher background, and making her own money (lots of it) as a commercial mortgage broker. Another vote for the Society of Gentlemen books by KJ Charles, as well. There’s a really good reader review of A Seditious Affair that explains very clearly why Silas is THE BEST.
In Deeper by Robin York (Ruthie Knox’s NA pen name) the h/h are both attending a private college, but she’s the daughter of a judge and he’s very blue collar.
Starlight by Carrie Lofty – historical set in Glasgow, Alex is running a mill he inherited from his father, Polly works there and is a union organizer (I hope I have the details right, it’s been a while).
White collar/blue collar pairings in Sarina Bowen books are mostly about the characters’ backgrounds and not what they’re doing professionally. Definitely Bella and Rafe (The Shameless Hour); arguably Scarlett and Bridger (The Year We Hid Away) and Lark and Zach (Keepsake).
Sweet by Tammara Webber – Pearl is a PhD student, Boyce is a mechanic.
A couple more:
Indecent Proposal by Molly O’Keefe – Ryan is a bartender, Harrison is from a political family and running for congress.
Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally – the characters are in high school, but class differences are explored, and both are working: Jack is (temporarily) running his family’s horse breeding/racing program, while Savannah and her family are employees and she has aspirations to become a jockey.
Make Me by Tessa Bailey is a good one. I second Liberating Lacy.
Now that I think about it, Tessa Bailey has several books with this theme, Worked Up is also fantastic.
Under Control by Shannon Stacey. The hero is a firefighter; the heroine owns her own very successful business.
The first book in Nalini Singh’s Hard Play series (Cherish Hard) explores this dynamic, too (the hero is a landscaper, the heroine is working as a VP for the summer in her mother’s company.
Elizabeth Hoyt – The Leopard Prince. She’s the land owner and he’s the estate manager. Probably several of her Maiden Lane books qualify as well.
I’m here mostly to happy sigh over LIBERATING LACEY. It’s been awhile since I read it, but it was a go-to reread for me for about four years. (I guess the only potential caveat is that the last 4 years have…altered some of my reading preferences, due to a resurgence of anger, so I don’t know how I’ll feel about the book now. I should definitely dive back in.)
I also wanted to offer up Michele Zurlo’s recently-re-released (and fairly heavily revised) LETTING GO. Both are white-collar, but hero is a teacher-turned-marketing person with not a lot of financial resources & heroine is a marketing exec with a shedload of family money. It’s light BDSM/exhibitionism, a marriage of convenience, and has some nice angst.
Now I’ve thought about it, probably all of the books in Julie Kriss’s Riggs Brothers series (DRIVE ME CRAZY, TAKE ME DOWN, WORK ME UP, MAKE ME BEG) would work because the brothers are all mechanics (although one was once a cop and another was a minor league baseball player) and the heroines all have white-collar jobs. This is especially true of TAKE ME DOWN; the heroine is a therapist, the hero is an ex-con (with a lot of secrets). He’s also somewhat younger than her.
Speaking of therapist & ex-cons: Jill Sorenson’s RIDING DIRTY features this pairing. I think it’s very good, but it is an MC romance and TW/CW for scenes of violence (including sexual violence).
I promise this will be the last time I pop back in on this thread, but looking over my book notes for this year, I also see:
Skye Warren’s BEAUTY & THE PROFESSOR/FALLING FOR THE BEAST: A wealthy, reclusive, scarred veteran hero and the college student who cleans his house. A fairy tale retelling—and on the lighter side of Warren’s work.
Carrie Aarons’s DOWN WE’LL COME, BABY: A wealthy heiress and a Nantucket “townie” must fight to save their marriage. (TW/CW for miscarriage and infertility issues).
Kati Wilde’s THE WEDDING NIGHT: She’s an extremely wealthy investment specialist (also neuro-divergent); he’s a mechanic and the unacknowledged illegitimate son from another wealthy family. He needs her help to stop the family from grabbing his inheritance. Marriage of Convenience trope.
Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon is about a nanny and the single mom surgeon he works for. Very sweet.
In Sanctuary Island by Lily Everett, the heroine is a commercial real estate executive from Washington DC and the hero is a handyman on a small island that is a sanctuary for wild horses. Bad cell phone signals and love prevails.
I immediately thought of Hard Time, too, when I saw this Rec League. Kind of a gritty setting, but I love the way the MCs work things out.
The Deep End by Kristen Ashley has this as a sore spot between domme Amelie and her growly sub Olivier–amidst all his other issues about being her sub, he frets that he (a firefighter) is too blue-collar for wealthy Amelie and that either she’ll look down on his family or they’ll find her too hoity-toity.
I think Pride, Prejudice and other flavors by Sonali Dev falls in this category. Hero is a chef/cook (blue collar) and heroine is a surgeon/doctor (white collar). I had to Google to figure out the collar association for those jobs lol
I feel like Julie James has done this. Maybe A LOT LIKE LOVE, where the heroine is a heiress and the hero is an AUSA?
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER — she is from the ton and he is born in the streets. This is a new series and at least two of the heroes were raised in the streets.
Did someone mention the one where the heroine falls in love with a blacksmith? Part of Spindle Cove, which might have others that fit.
MARRIAGE OF INCONVENIENCE by Penny Reid, maybe? She is an heiress and he is a self-made security expert.
Heart of the Game by Rachel Spangler Sarah is a baseball sportwriter and Molly is a single mother of two and a waitress. If you love baseball, you have to read this book,.
Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger An exiled inventor and a maid. FF.
Takes Two to Tackle by Jeanette Murray Football Player and Housekeeper. Wall of Winnipeg has this pairing as well. And another housekeeper and rich recluse Sweet Agony
by Charlotte Stein MF
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan Governess and Lawyer MF
Living on the Inside by Londra Laine Coffeehouse owner and ex con working for him. When Love Flue In by Lillian Francis, Chimmy Sweep and well to do man. Fair Isn’t Life
by Kaje Harper Fair Worker/Ex Dairy farmer and College Student MM
Marie Harte has quite a few books with blue collar careers and some match up with white collar SOs, but I can’t remember which ones now!
I would second the recommendation for Make Me by Tessa Bailey – I know there is a lot of stuff that would turn off some readers – virgin fetishing, super alpha, but I freaking love that book. One of my favorites. And it falls under another trope too – he pined for her since the moment he first saw her and tried (successfully for awhile) to keep his love a secret because he thought he wasn’t worthy.
I would add One Hot December by Tiffany Reisz – bisexual welder heroine and construction company executive hero.
Oh and another one of my all time favorites Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann – hero was a poor kid who grew up to be a Navy SEAL and the heroine was raised in posh settings including boarding school and making friends with royalty. She is now a PR rep for a prince. Some of the lines in that book still make me swoon.
There’s a Nora Roberts called Night Smoke where the hero is an arson investigator and the heroine runs her family’s huge company. I remember this being something the hero thinks about/worries about.
Rebel Hard and Cherish Hard are both so good. Nalini Singh is awesome.
Remember When by Judith McNaught has a hero who starts off working in a rich guy’s stables and ends up self-made rich, then reconnects with the heroine, whose family was Texas high society. She now runs the family lifestyle magazine/brand. They knew each other when she was a teenager and she had a huge crush on him. There is snobbery about his background among people she grew up with, I think. That one also has a marriage of convenience element. I stole my mom’s McNaught books in my late teens, and they don’t all hold up well, but I think this one aged better than a lot of the others. Still might have some problems, though.
How could I forget Lisa Kleypas??? Secrets of a Summer Night (first Wallflower book) is ALL about this. Hero started working class and is wealthy but works for a living and the heroine is an impoverished aristocrat; lots of stuff about class differences. Marrying Winterbourne has a similar set-up. I think Kleypas also had books about Bow Street runners that maybe qualify but I can’t recall the plots if I read them.
Suddenly You by Sarah Mayberry – mf Australian contemp. He’s a mechanic, she works in a gallery (I think). She’s also a single mom and really struggling to make ends meet, while he’s making good money.
Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie – mf contemp. High school art teacher heroine and mechanic hero.
Proper English by Rachel Spangler – ff contemp between a successful author and bartender. This is not my favorite RS, but even a meh RD is pretty damn good.
I came up with a couple more to add:
Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz: heroine is a marketing person for an airline and hero is a carpenter/handy man.
If you consider law enforcement blue collar (and a quick google search says some people do and some don’t) the I would recommend Need You by Stacy Finz – hero is a small town police chief and heroine is a fashion designer who owns her own fashion company.
What Matters Most by Barbara Langley – heroine is a construction worker in her family’s handyman business, hero is a high powered lawyer from a wealthy background. One of the main conflicts in their relationship is that she doesn’t think she can fit in with his lifestyle.
There’s so many great recs here, but I want to recommend “The Baby Plan” by Susan Gable. It’s a Superromance,15 + years old, but I remember it fondly. Hero wants to be a father and have a baby, so he hires the heroine to be his surrogate. He has a regular office job (I think). The heroine is the one who is super memorable. She’s a mechanic who comes from a poor background and is being a surrogate to afford an education. She doesn’t feel worthy of being a mother (because she’s poor and uneducated) and it’s very sweet to watch her fall in love and change her mind.
I think a couple other of her books have a white collar/blue collar dynamic but this is the one where I remember it being important to the plot.
In contemporary m/m, Annabeth Albert’s new book Arctic Wild features an attorney and Alaskan cargo pilot/tour guide.
Like Lucy Parker, Lily Morton has some great books with (m/m) couples from different backgrounds. I think it’s more of a British social class-thing than blue/white collar jobs, but ‘Oz’ sees an heir to an estate/vet fall in love with a jobless, mouthy Irishman who tries his hand at estate management. Morton deserves more love!
Too Good to be True by Kristan Higgins. She’s a history teacher and he’s an ex-con carpenter.
Alyssa Cole’s Unconditional Freedom has some interesting class dynamics between a wealthy Cuban spy and her former slave (previously middle class) partner.
True Pretenses by Rose Lerner – wealthy heiress and a con man. Nuanced depiction of class and family. Sweet Disorder, the first book in the series, was also great
Mrs Martin’s Incomparable Adventure f/f is really explicit about the class differences between an older lodging manager and a wealthy widow
Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian – m/m with wealthy scientist and con man/secretary – there’s less hand wringing about not being “classy” enough here than in the rest of this series
Dirty Laundry – m/m contemporary with a graduate student and bouncer
Lisa Kleypas Sugar Daddy. She’s a hairdresser and he’s super rich scion of an oil fortune. I think Kate Clayborn Luck of the Draw also fits. She’s a high powered lawyer and he’s an EMT.
So many great recs here!
BAD BOYS DO by Victoria Dahl – college professor heroine and barista hero.
WILLING VICTIM/BRUTAL GAME by Cara McKenna – engineer heroine, construction worker? and amateur fighter hero (Erotic rape fantasy)
STEADFAST by Sarina Bowen – Rich social worker heroine, ex-con mechanic hero.
So many historicals! Almost all of Lisa Kleypas, quite a few Laura Kinsales and Elizabeth Hoyts. Seconding True Pretences by Rose Lerner.
@Cat (Comment 22): IIRC the hero in The Governess Affair was more of an enforcer than a lawyer (he didn’t have a formal law degree) so that gave me more of a blue/blue collar vibe.
I’ve always thought of white collar and blue collar as types of jobs (intellectual/sedentary and physical) not as indicators of class or wealth. Sometimes it matches up, but socialites and heiresses aren’t white collar unless they 1) have a job 2) that uses mostly brain instead of brawn. I guess it depends on what the original requestor had in mind.
Anyway … in the spirit of blue collar job vs white collar job, The Hookup by Kristen Ashley has a mechanic hero and a … something in an office heroine, database manager maybe.
THE ONE YOU CAN’T FORGET by Roni Loren. He used to be a successful restaurant owner but the heroine is a lawyer who represented his ex wife and took him for everything he had, so now he teaches troubled youth how to cook and also works as a “hot chef” for bachelorette parties. I think he has a rough background while the heroine is from a powerful political family. CN: for gun violence trauma.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable conflict, I really liked it.
Jessica Bird novels (early romances by J R Ward) have some class/money dynamics – wealthy Boston scion with more hands-on women trying to make it big.