Beyond the Palace

From the first moment that Ben sees Laura, she seems too good to be true. Stunning, elegant, adventurous, and intolerably charming, she is everything that he wants in a woman. She even shares his passion for Bruce Springsteen's music. And before he even realizes that it's happened, Ben has turned his whole life upside down to follow Bruce around the country with her.Laura fascinates him because everything about her is a contradiction. She never lies, but she never quite tells the truth either. She's wildly outspoken and passionate, yet smoothly changes the subject whenever she is asked a direct question about herself. She manages to intrigue and infuriate, attract and repel, charm and disarm Ben at every turn. Yet there's something sweet beneath her flippant exterior; something that Ben realizes that only he is allowed to see. And no matter how much he tries to stay away, he is unable to resist her.But Laura has secrets that threaten to destroy their unlikely friendship. She is wealthy, yet unemployed. She has no family, and she seems to have almost no past, except for an older man whose relationship to her Ben cannot figure out. And she claims that she doesn't believe in love.When the tour ends, Ben knows that he wants more from his relationship with Laura. But he doesn't know what Laura wants. And neither does she.