So I've been working on a historical romance (set in England in 1885) where the hero is mixed-race, half white and half Indian. Then I read a review of a recently published romance with such a hero where the reviewer was uncomfortable with the fetishization of the hero. The specific examples quoted in the review were his "dark looks" and "foreign flair".
I want to avoid this in my own writing, so I've been trying to think of ways to do so. No comparisons of skin to food, and no mentions of the Kama Sutra as some kind of exotic sex guide. Also, the (white) heroine's attraction to the hero shouldn't be dependent on how different his skin/hair/eye color are from hers. No othering.
I'm wondering, though, if there are any other suggestions you can provide, or approaches I've overlooked. Also, is it acceptable for one of the characters to think that the hero looks foreign if this description isn't related to attraction - i.e. it's not like "he looks foreign therefore he's sexy", but more like "he looks foreign therefore I'm not sure whether I can trust him"? He's not actually foreign, since he was born in England, but the other characters don't know that at first.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!
I want to avoid this in my own writing, so I've been trying to think of ways to do so. No comparisons of skin to food, and no mentions of the Kama Sutra as some kind of exotic sex guide. Also, the (white) heroine's attraction to the hero shouldn't be dependent on how different his skin/hair/eye color are from hers. No othering.
I'm wondering, though, if there are any other suggestions you can provide, or approaches I've overlooked. Also, is it acceptable for one of the characters to think that the hero looks foreign if this description isn't related to attraction - i.e. it's not like "he looks foreign therefore he's sexy", but more like "he looks foreign therefore I'm not sure whether I can trust him"? He's not actually foreign, since he was born in England, but the other characters don't know that at first.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!