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Terms of Love
Able to run her father's freighting empire as well as any man, Cassandra Clayton realizes that she must have a child to provide an heir and targets Steve Loring, who has been wrongly sentenced for a crime. Original.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Shirl Henke
63 books77 followersaka Alexa Hunt.
Working my way through college provided great life experiences for a novelist. One problem. I didn’t know I was destined to write books. Instead, I floundered around during and after receiving my B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Missouri. None of my wide variety of jobs satisfied me: cashier for a loan company, public welfare caseworker, assistant circulation manager for a small daily, editor for several “house organ” newspapers, administrator of a federal information program for the elderly.
Finally I was offered the opportunity to use my history degrees, teaching in a large urban university in the Northeast. I truly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, when the history requirement was dropped for incoming students, so was my instructorship. After that I taught gerontology, sociology, proposal writing for social service agencies and freshman composition at the same university. Further life experiences. My last two years of teaching were in remedial English—just the nudge I needed to take this writing thing seriously.
Since childhood I’ve been an avid reader, everything from Robert Heinlein’s sci-fi adventures to Frank Yerby’s historical romantic sagas. More recently I became hooked on thrillers. Since childhood I had story ideas in my head, but never the epiphany to write them. Okay, maybe I just didn’t have the courage. But there were just so many times I could explain what a verb was to a college senior before I realized that maybe writing a book might be easier. I sold my first novel, a big historical romance titled GOLDEN LADY, to Warner Books in 1985. Within two years, I quit remedial comp. Now I can't imagine doing anything but writing for a living. In 2005 I switched over to the “dark side.” Tor published two political thrillers, CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY and HOMELAND SECURITY under the pseudonym Alexa Hunt. I’ve also written romantic suspense for Penguin Onyx and Silhouette Bombshell as Shirl Henke. Since I began my career, I’ve appeared on the USA TODAY bestseller list, been a RITA Finalist twice, received a BookraK Bestseller Award, and won three Career Achievement Awards, an Industry Award and three Reviewers Choice Awards from Romantic Times.
My husband Jim Henke is a former cabdriver, bartender, sailor, judo instructor and English professor. He's a scholarly authority on obscene slang and a master at its use, but an astonishingly understanding man who puts up with my all-night writing sprees and sudden dashes to my desk to jot down bits of dialogue as dinner burns on the stove. Since he took early retirement from academe, he has helped me brainstorm plots and research my novels.
After four years in the U.S. Air Force, our son Matt works in telecommunications and lives in an adjacent county with his brute of a cat, Max. Jim and I now share our cedar house in the woods with a pair of utterly adorable tomcats, Inky and Pewter, whose destructive capacity rivals that of a medium sized thermonuclear weapon. But just as life without writing would be unimaginable, so would life without cats.
For therapy when I'm not at the computer or off researching a new book, I cook large dinners for our extended family, putter in my garden and greenhouse, and still read voraciously. When deadlines permit, I love to travel. I'm a member of the Author's Guild, Romance Writers of America, Missouri Romance Writers, Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc. and International Thriller Writers
I wrote my first twenty-two novels in longhand with a ball-point pen--it's hard to get good quills these days. Dragged into the 21st century, I now use one of those "devil machines. Another troglodyte bites the dust
Working my way through college provided great life experiences for a novelist. One problem. I didn’t know I was destined to write books. Instead, I floundered around during and after receiving my B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Missouri. None of my wide variety of jobs satisfied me: cashier for a loan company, public welfare caseworker, assistant circulation manager for a small daily, editor for several “house organ” newspapers, administrator of a federal information program for the elderly.
Finally I was offered the opportunity to use my history degrees, teaching in a large urban university in the Northeast. I truly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, when the history requirement was dropped for incoming students, so was my instructorship. After that I taught gerontology, sociology, proposal writing for social service agencies and freshman composition at the same university. Further life experiences. My last two years of teaching were in remedial English—just the nudge I needed to take this writing thing seriously.
Since childhood I’ve been an avid reader, everything from Robert Heinlein’s sci-fi adventures to Frank Yerby’s historical romantic sagas. More recently I became hooked on thrillers. Since childhood I had story ideas in my head, but never the epiphany to write them. Okay, maybe I just didn’t have the courage. But there were just so many times I could explain what a verb was to a college senior before I realized that maybe writing a book might be easier. I sold my first novel, a big historical romance titled GOLDEN LADY, to Warner Books in 1985. Within two years, I quit remedial comp. Now I can't imagine doing anything but writing for a living. In 2005 I switched over to the “dark side.” Tor published two political thrillers, CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY and HOMELAND SECURITY under the pseudonym Alexa Hunt. I’ve also written romantic suspense for Penguin Onyx and Silhouette Bombshell as Shirl Henke. Since I began my career, I’ve appeared on the USA TODAY bestseller list, been a RITA Finalist twice, received a BookraK Bestseller Award, and won three Career Achievement Awards, an Industry Award and three Reviewers Choice Awards from Romantic Times.
My husband Jim Henke is a former cabdriver, bartender, sailor, judo instructor and English professor. He's a scholarly authority on obscene slang and a master at its use, but an astonishingly understanding man who puts up with my all-night writing sprees and sudden dashes to my desk to jot down bits of dialogue as dinner burns on the stove. Since he took early retirement from academe, he has helped me brainstorm plots and research my novels.
After four years in the U.S. Air Force, our son Matt works in telecommunications and lives in an adjacent county with his brute of a cat, Max. Jim and I now share our cedar house in the woods with a pair of utterly adorable tomcats, Inky and Pewter, whose destructive capacity rivals that of a medium sized thermonuclear weapon. But just as life without writing would be unimaginable, so would life without cats.
For therapy when I'm not at the computer or off researching a new book, I cook large dinners for our extended family, putter in my garden and greenhouse, and still read voraciously. When deadlines permit, I love to travel. I'm a member of the Author's Guild, Romance Writers of America, Missouri Romance Writers, Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc. and International Thriller Writers
I wrote my first twenty-two novels in longhand with a ball-point pen--it's hard to get good quills these days. Dragged into the 21st century, I now use one of those "devil machines. Another troglodyte bites the dust
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 18, 2019
1.5 stars rounded off ...
Why did I read this one? H was no hero ... he was a mean spiteful man while h was shrewish ... story and plot were ok but the weakness of both characters killed it for me ...
I could understand H cheating with h's enemy OW if she spilled tea on h's skirts ... she was responsible for a whole lot of other stuff ...
I mentally cheered when she took a whip to him ... he needed a few more ...
Why did I read this one? H was no hero ... he was a mean spiteful man while h was shrewish ... story and plot were ok but the weakness of both characters killed it for me ...
I could understand H cheating with h's enemy OW if she spilled tea on h's skirts ... she was responsible for a whole lot of other stuff ...
I mentally cheered when she took a whip to him ... he needed a few more ...
June 5, 2019
Skimmed a LOT
December 6, 2010
This could have been a 4 to 4 1/2 stars for me but the heroine really brought this book down. I really didn't like her until near the end of the book.
March 25, 2024
Not the worst writing I've read, but there was a lot of over-description and both leads were pretty damn unlikable. The dude love interest in particular was not great, and I'm just over here like "why should I be rooting for them to get together???".
Not for me.
Not for me.
May 10, 2020
It was okay. I didn't like the heroine. She didn't seem authentic.
July 19, 2020
👍
I was little bored. But I did find the research this author did to Bering us a story was fantastic.
I was little bored. But I did find the research this author did to Bering us a story was fantastic.
Read
December 17, 2020I love this book, maybe it’s nostalgia but the story has stayed with me for a long time and I’ve read many many romances.
October 13, 2022
OMG THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. THIS MUST BE ON ALL HR FANS LIST
September 19, 2023
Could have been a 4 if the heroine hadn’t been such a brat.
December 24, 2023
so emotionally wrenching in spots that it will make you cry. definitely recommend
August 11, 2013
This book was okay but it seemed to drag so slowly that I wanted to start skimming but I just don't let myself do that. For me, there were too many minute details filling the pages that did not hold my interest and maybe just a bit too much heartbreak.
November 7, 2023
Terms of Love
Good read. Second time reading this book. The main thing I didn’t like is too many characters. I prefer just two main characters. An interesting twist on a gunshot marriage of convenience.
Good read. Second time reading this book. The main thing I didn’t like is too many characters. I prefer just two main characters. An interesting twist on a gunshot marriage of convenience.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews