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Cheyenne Series #1
Capture the Sun
In the wilds of Montana, Carrie, who was forced to marry a man twice her age, is attracted to his half-breed son, Hawk Sinclair
369 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
12 people are currently reading
197 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 20, 2014
This book totally deserves 4 stars for being a well-written Western romance, but OH MY GOD! DID THIS BOOK PISS ME OFF!!!
Actually, it was the plot turns and the hero, Hawk, that pissed me off. I wish Carrie, the heroine, would've turned into as big of a slut as the hero to teach him a lesson.
SPOILERS!
I think his love for her was too cowardly for me to appreciate him. She was forced into marriage with his father who was thirty-plus years older than her. He did absolutely nothing to save her from that situation. Instead he just took off and whored around the Midwest, then married an Indian woman and even after he and Carrie were both living on the ranch again and his father was dead AND they had a son together, he still whored around, bringing an actual whore to live with him on the ranch.
And after all that crap why the hell didn't she take off with the German Baron who was in love with her and would've taken her to live in a goddamn castle like in a fairytale?????
Actually, it was the plot turns and the hero, Hawk, that pissed me off. I wish Carrie, the heroine, would've turned into as big of a slut as the hero to teach him a lesson.
SPOILERS!
I think his love for her was too cowardly for me to appreciate him. She was forced into marriage with his father who was thirty-plus years older than her. He did absolutely nothing to save her from that situation. Instead he just took off and whored around the Midwest, then married an Indian woman and even after he and Carrie were both living on the ranch again and his father was dead AND they had a son together, he still whored around, bringing an actual whore to live with him on the ranch.
And after all that crap why the hell didn't she take off with the German Baron who was in love with her and would've taken her to live in a goddamn castle like in a fairytale?????
March 31, 2020
I usually like this kind of bodice ripper, but this left a bad taste in my mouth. The hero knows his father is raping the heroine almost everyday and what does he do? Nothing. He screws other women, marries another woman and treats the heroine like garbage.
She is pathetic. This guy treats her like dirt for 95% of the book and she whines like a dog about how much she loves him. Screw that. She's such a DOORMAT.
Oh, and does hero ever man up? Noooo! The beaten dog of a heroine takes all the blame for HIS abusive behaviour and begs him to love her.
I am puking.
She is pathetic. This guy treats her like dirt for 95% of the book and she whines like a dog about how much she loves him. Screw that. She's such a DOORMAT.
Oh, and does hero ever man up? Noooo! The beaten dog of a heroine takes all the blame for HIS abusive behaviour and begs him to love her.
I am puking.
December 16, 2019
A Superb Western Classic with an Educated Half Cheyenne Hero!
First published in 1988, and set in Montana in the late 1800s, CAPTURE THE SUN was unique because it involved a half-breed Cheyenne hero who had been well educated in the finest Eastern schools. Hawk Sinclair straddled two worlds, not feeling at home in either, until he finds his destiny in the arms of a redheaded beauty from St. Louis.
Carrie Patterson was raised in St. Louis and had loving parents until they died and she was forced to live with her aunt and uncle and treated more like a servant. Her aunt resented her beauty for her daughters paled in comparison. When Carrie turns 18, her aunt buys Carrie’s fiancé for one of the plain daughters and Carrie is forced to marry the aunt’s cousin, a cruel old rancher named Noah Sinclair. He takes her to his ranch in Montana, the Circle S, where she learns he’s had two wives before her, including his first who was a beautiful Cheyenne girl who gave him his only son, Hawk Sinclair, an educated half breed who will never inherit the ranch if Carrie gives him a white heir. Carrie comes to hate Noah even as she is falling in love with his son, Hawk.
My first reaction to the story was one of revulsion as the beautiful young heroine, Carrie Patterson, was forced into marrying despicable Noah Sinclair. Noah’s frequent, mechanical and brutal exercise of his “marital rights” made me cringe. He was the wrong man for the right woman; he took her innocence and I hated him for it. Carrie was a bit disappointing at first as she resigned herself to the role of broodmare. But as she becomes more familiar with life on the Montana frontier, she gains strength and the respect of all around her.
I have become a huge fan of Shirl Henke. She serves up richly detailed Western romances that will keep you up late at night, I promise. This is another winning tale of hers from the old West with an intricate plot reflecting thorough research. The story captivated me from the beginning; I couldn’t put it down. Her pictures of ranch life and the challenges of the Cheyenne as the white man encroached onto their way of life are vividly detailed. Her dialog is rich, capturing the personalities of her characters, even their speech, which varies from the wise Cheyenne chief, to the old Texas cowhand, to the self-righteous citizens who were so quick to judge. I highly recommend this one! It’s the first in the Cheyenne trilogy:
CAPTURE THE SUN (1988)
THE ENDLESS SKY (1998)
SUNDANCER (1999)
First published in 1988, and set in Montana in the late 1800s, CAPTURE THE SUN was unique because it involved a half-breed Cheyenne hero who had been well educated in the finest Eastern schools. Hawk Sinclair straddled two worlds, not feeling at home in either, until he finds his destiny in the arms of a redheaded beauty from St. Louis.
Carrie Patterson was raised in St. Louis and had loving parents until they died and she was forced to live with her aunt and uncle and treated more like a servant. Her aunt resented her beauty for her daughters paled in comparison. When Carrie turns 18, her aunt buys Carrie’s fiancé for one of the plain daughters and Carrie is forced to marry the aunt’s cousin, a cruel old rancher named Noah Sinclair. He takes her to his ranch in Montana, the Circle S, where she learns he’s had two wives before her, including his first who was a beautiful Cheyenne girl who gave him his only son, Hawk Sinclair, an educated half breed who will never inherit the ranch if Carrie gives him a white heir. Carrie comes to hate Noah even as she is falling in love with his son, Hawk.
My first reaction to the story was one of revulsion as the beautiful young heroine, Carrie Patterson, was forced into marrying despicable Noah Sinclair. Noah’s frequent, mechanical and brutal exercise of his “marital rights” made me cringe. He was the wrong man for the right woman; he took her innocence and I hated him for it. Carrie was a bit disappointing at first as she resigned herself to the role of broodmare. But as she becomes more familiar with life on the Montana frontier, she gains strength and the respect of all around her.
I have become a huge fan of Shirl Henke. She serves up richly detailed Western romances that will keep you up late at night, I promise. This is another winning tale of hers from the old West with an intricate plot reflecting thorough research. The story captivated me from the beginning; I couldn’t put it down. Her pictures of ranch life and the challenges of the Cheyenne as the white man encroached onto their way of life are vividly detailed. Her dialog is rich, capturing the personalities of her characters, even their speech, which varies from the wise Cheyenne chief, to the old Texas cowhand, to the self-righteous citizens who were so quick to judge. I highly recommend this one! It’s the first in the Cheyenne trilogy:
CAPTURE THE SUN (1988)
THE ENDLESS SKY (1998)
SUNDANCER (1999)
April 24, 2025
0 stars,I should have believed the reviews.
If you are thinking of reading this, DON’T!
There is not one redeeming thing about this book, the worst shit I have ever read in my life!
(Also the way Noah dies made me think you can’t be serious, like who dies while f**king a prostitute)
(And they also lost me as a couple when Hawk got a wife she’s dies and he also starts paying for prostitute like literally he did it in the last 50 pages, like WTF)(he did so 3 times at least from what I recall, like father like son)
You will never know how happy I am that this is over!
If you are thinking of reading this, DON’T!
There is not one redeeming thing about this book, the worst shit I have ever read in my life!
(Also the way Noah dies made me think you can’t be serious, like who dies while f**king a prostitute)
(And they also lost me as a couple when Hawk got a wife she’s dies and he also starts paying for prostitute like literally he did it in the last 50 pages, like WTF)(he did so 3 times at least from what I recall, like father like son)
You will never know how happy I am that this is over!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2023
4.5 stars, excellent book. This one is a little different as our Eastern 18-year-old heroine is reluctantly married off to a 55-year-old MT rancher who’s not a good person or husband. On top of that he’s the hero’s father. We have a very alpha hero that seemingly to him doesn’t belong in either world that he was born into. H’s behavior at times certainly fits the times this was written and some readers today may not like it. There is OW action with H and the heroine is married for half the book. For me it worked in the story, even though I didn’t like it, and I found myself cheering for h/ Carrie as she grows and becomes stronger and ultimately fights for all of what she wants. Both the H/ h are hurt by one another, angst and emotions like anger and guilt run deep. I recommend it and I will keep reading SH books.
May 24, 2021
Best Western I Have Read!
Shirl Henke is one of my favorite authors. I am 84-years old and housebound except for doctor's appointments. I love all her books but thus series I have enjoyed most...especially this one. She saved the best for last! I have told all who will listen they must read her books...especially this one. I wondered all the way through just what person or thing would throw Carrie and Hawk away from one mother. My only feeling of disappointment is that Mrs. Thorndyke didn't get her comeuppance!
Shirl Henke is one of my favorite authors. I am 84-years old and housebound except for doctor's appointments. I love all her books but thus series I have enjoyed most...especially this one. She saved the best for last! I have told all who will listen they must read her books...especially this one. I wondered all the way through just what person or thing would throw Carrie and Hawk away from one mother. My only feeling of disappointment is that Mrs. Thorndyke didn't get her comeuppance!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews