title: Behind the Curtain
author: Kery, Beth
description: There's something about this woman . . .
  
  On a break between overseas jobs, journalist Asher Gaites returns to his hometown of Chicago -- and allows his friends to persuade him to check out a hot new singer. At a downtown jazz club, he's soon transfixed by the lyrical voice and sensuous body of a woman who performs behind a thin, shimmering veil. . . . that could bring a man to his knees.
  
  The veil gives Moroccan American Laila Barek the anonymity she needs since she has never been able to reconcile her family's values with her passion for music. But one man is inexplicably drawn to her. And when Asher confronts her on a subway platform after a gig, he's shocked to recognize the woman who walked away from him nine years ago. Laila has never been able to forget the touch, the feel, the taste of Asher. And despite the doubt and fear that wind their way into their lives, they must trust the heat of their desire to burn down the walls the world has placed between them . . .