You CANNOT compare Terry to Toni or vice versa. That's just like comparing Yolanda Adams to Jennifer Lopez...you just CANNOT do it. It's not possible!
Toni does her kind of writing, Terri does hers. I find Terri very entertaining. I don't expect her to win a nobel peace prize or to become a POET LAUREATE for Waiting to Exhale or any of her books, SO FAR!
Yet, Terri should be respected in her own right as an author!