Publisher's Synopsis
'Masala' is a Hindi word for a blend of different spices. Masala is also the only word to describe Sadie Morgan's upbringing and, coincidentally, this story.
Sadie was born in the west, grew up in the south, spent most of her time at the local Hare Krisna temple with her friends, and is rooted in her Mormon heritage. In other words, she doesn't know who she is or where she belongs in the world. With parents who live on opposite sides of the country, her father a cowboy and her mother an academic, she feels torn between the different branches of her family tree. With this as the backdrop, she is anxious for the upcoming school year looming like a shadow on the horizon, one in which she will no longer be a student but a teacher. Sadie feels a lot of pressure to follow in her mother's footsteps; to live a prim and proper life and to become a pillar of the community. Sadie secretly desires a different path, one that is more wild and adventurous. The thought of becoming a high school teacher at the tender age of twenty doesn't exactly appeal to her. She would rather paint and write stories than grade papers. The only person willing and able to turn her into a troublemaker and make her wild dreams come true is Ash Montgomery. Sadie and Ash went to high school together where he spent most of his time tormenting and harassing her. Even then he looked like an angel, but she always thought he was an obnoxious slacker. Upon meeting again after years apart, she can't help but notice how he's changed. Not only is he funny, charming, earthy, and insightful - he's gorgeous in an untamed way. With his sandy blonde hair, sun-kissed skin, dark coal eyes, and southern sexy swagger, she is immediately drawn to him. She doesn't want to like him. Even worse, she doesn't (but does) want to use him as inspiration for the western romance she has been writing about a mercenary who falls in love with a prostitute, and she can't help but write herself into the role of the leading lady with him starring as her mercenary love interest. Sadie reluctantly spends time with him, doing everything she's longed to do. Climbing dirt mounds and howling at the moon in the dead of night. Hanging out at Waffle House for a midnight snack. Drinking gas station coffee and eating junk food in the bed of his old-fashioned pick-up. All the non-conformist things that have never been allowed in her structured life full of academia. The problem with Sadie is that she is a self-proclaimed dream crusher. You know, a person who crushes her own dreams before anyone else can do it for her. As her relationship with Ash unfolds, will she take the risk of falling in love with him or will she crush yet another dream? Dream Crusher is a blend of western, southern, and a touch of Bollywood that weaves two love stories together - one about a young woman overcoming her prejudice of a man in order to fulfill her dreams - the other a tragic western ballad about a prostitute and a mercenary who struggle to cling to their forbidden love affair as forces threaten to tear them apart. It is also a scrappy, honest, realistic, witty, and emotional love story that promises lots and lots of sex, realistic characters, depth, passion, and a relationship that captures the beauty of youth. WARNING: This book contains strong language, explicit sexual content throughout, violence, and scenes some might find triggering. These scenes were handled with as much care as possible. That being said, please take good care of yourself.