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McCrory's Lady
Fiercely independent Maggie Worthington finds her world forever changed by the searing kisses of Scottish rancher Colin McCrory, who must take a wife in order to save his daughter from scandal. Reissue.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
7 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
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 - 5 of 5 reviews
Want to read
December 11, 202212/11/2022 - rec from @probablyalovestory
September 28, 2015
Finished this one last night...what an excellent read! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, right from the first page! There are not one, but two love stories in this one, and it made for an amazing read. There's mystery, suspense, passion, and on top of that, it's a western, so what's not to love?! Highly recommend this book to anyone who is into historical westerns...there are sex scenes in this one folks, but well written, and they fit the story, not gratuitous at all. I loved this book and would definitely read it again!
February 4, 2026
DNF’ed @ 33%. I couldn’t handle the whole “forbidden” love thing between Wolf and Eden. It was made even worse by the repeated emphasis of her being blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and “ethereal.” It just felt gross. I also couldn’t stand Colin. He was just a dick the entire time. If I had to read him call Maggie a whore one more time, I was going to lose my mind.
June 15, 2019
There’s a great deal going on in these 448 pages: a complex story, romance, adventure and a mystery. Colin McCrory is the complicated widower in Arizona Territory who has sworn never to remarry. His daughter, Eden, has been kidnapped from Colin’s extensive ranch and taken into Mexico.
While searching for Eden, Colin meets Maggie Worthington, a beautiful bordello madam, who makes a shocking offer: She will find where his daughter is being held and help Eden after her father frees her -- if Colin will marry her. Realizing the futility of searching such a wide swath of Mexico, Colin reluctantly agrees.
It is obvious that there is an attraction between Maggie and Colin. He has political ambitions and needs a lady at his side; he also realizes he has no idea how to help Eden (she will be a pariah in society and worse; she will be emotionally and physically scarred by her ordeal at the hands of her abductors).
When Eden is freed, Maggie understands her needs and helps her come to terms with her situation. Maggie is the essence of a fashionable and genteel lady, in spite of her profession. She was raised as a lady in Boston and was led astray by a man she thought she loved.
Colin, still chafing from being coerced to marry a prostitute, refuses to honor his promise. However, forces beyond his control intrude on this stubborn Scot’s wishes.
This is just one of the storylines that course through this book. This is a long story that has lots of action and drama. It kept my attention throughout the novel. 4.5 stars
While searching for Eden, Colin meets Maggie Worthington, a beautiful bordello madam, who makes a shocking offer: She will find where his daughter is being held and help Eden after her father frees her -- if Colin will marry her. Realizing the futility of searching such a wide swath of Mexico, Colin reluctantly agrees.
It is obvious that there is an attraction between Maggie and Colin. He has political ambitions and needs a lady at his side; he also realizes he has no idea how to help Eden (she will be a pariah in society and worse; she will be emotionally and physically scarred by her ordeal at the hands of her abductors).
When Eden is freed, Maggie understands her needs and helps her come to terms with her situation. Maggie is the essence of a fashionable and genteel lady, in spite of her profession. She was raised as a lady in Boston and was led astray by a man she thought she loved.
Colin, still chafing from being coerced to marry a prostitute, refuses to honor his promise. However, forces beyond his control intrude on this stubborn Scot’s wishes.
This is just one of the storylines that course through this book. This is a long story that has lots of action and drama. It kept my attention throughout the novel. 4.5 stars
January 7, 2021
Another good read
Shirk Henke writes a good story. The way she includes a thriller as well as a romance in her plots makes them even better.
Shirk Henke writes a good story. The way she includes a thriller as well as a romance in her plots makes them even better.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews