At the end of one of their dates, Jerome Lee forces himself upon Renay, raping and impregnating her with a child, Denise, that results in their marriage and incompletion of college.
Following the birth of Denise, Jerome Lee begins to drink heavily and takes odd jobs, predominantly as a traveling hair supplies salesman, which he implements as a tool and guise for rampant marital infidelity.
Renay is slowly introduced to Terry's life as a rich white lesbian, meeting her friends and social circles, and accompanying her to her frequented restaurants and parties.
The two women begin to live as domestic partners, and Renay experiences nothing short of a sexual awakening while exploring her new intimate relationship with Terry.
Their only arguments stem from Terry wanting Renay to cease her appearances at the club, voicing concern about Jerome Lee potentially stalking her there.
Demanding the return of his wife and daughter, Jerome Lee becomes convinced that she has found another man, and threatens both Renay and her supposed new lover.
Phil Millard and Benjie, a fun gay couple, frequent Terry's house and extend their friendship to Renay without question.
The new couple and Denise settle into the new home, with Terry and Renay slowly assuming the stereotypical roles of husband and wife, respectively, and a nuclear family.
Shortly afterwards, Terry is approached with an offer to travel to New York City to interview an up-and-coming Hollywood starlet, but is concerned with leaving Renay alone after their run-in with Jerome Lee.
Renay receives a call from Kentucky and learns that Denise has been killed in a car crash after Jerome Lee was visiting and took her for a drive while drunk.
"[3] American author and critic Jewelle Gomez wrote in Home Girls that Shockley's novel is "a groundbreaking effort whose mere accomplishment deserves applause".
[1] Renowned American novelist Alice Walker applauds Ann Allen Shockley and Loving Her for shining the inceptionary light on interracial lesbianism in a Ms. magazine article in 1975,[1] and stated in a 1998 edition of American Quarterly that Loving Her explores a "daring subject boldy shared" and the novel is of "immense value"[4] and it "allows us glimpses at physical intimacies between women that have been, in the past, deliberately ridiculed or obscured.
"[3] Even during a time period in which African American women writers were becoming all the more prolific and their works widely recognized, Loving Her was all but overlooked and disregarded by the literary world.
[3] This lack of critical reception is perhaps due to a surfeit of shortcomings, including, but not limited to, "poor publicity and inimical reviews, editorial and regional biases, racism, sexism, and homophobia.
[1] Both Shockley and her novel have also been bitingly criticized for bringing up poignant questions of race, class, and sexuality, yet falling short in any attempt to answer them.
"[3] Ann Allen Shockley models the character of Jerome Lee as a human embodiment of this black nationalist discourse,[3] as he emulates this ideal with the blaming of his failures on Renay throughout the novel.