In 1934, life in Brookburn, Indiana, is quiet, simple, and peaceful, but young dreamer Levi Beckerman yearns for more. When the carnival shows up for the Fourth of July, he’s entranced by its many temptations. None is more seductive than the charismatic barker, Sebastian Gustineau.<br><br>Seb’s been a part of the carnival for almost a decade. Once, it provided him the escape he needed from a life he thought he didn’t want, but now, he craves things it can never offer. Flitting from dusty town to dusty town, he loses himself in pretty dalliances. Levi seems like the perfect distraction, until a single conversation convinces him that preserving Levi’s innocence and way of life is more important than his momentary satisfaction.<br><br>However, his plan to discourage Levi goes horribly wrong. When Levi’s family is threatened, Levi fights to protect them, doing what he can to hide the secrets he’s sheltered his entire life. The only person he trusts is Seb. He just isn’t sure if the growing bond between them is enough to save them all.

A Simple Charm

“Told you it was something,” Otto boasted.


Bertie’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “That’s too good a trick to just make up out of nowhere.”


“Except nobody in town knows any kind of card tricks,” Levi said. “Unless you count Mr. Sellers cheating at his weekly poker games, and really, everybody knows he does that so it’s not really the same thing, now is it?”


His tone was off. Something about his enunciation, his word choice, both not quite the Levi he’d got to know over the past couple days. The former was sharper, the latter more simplistic, and the almost rapid-fire responses he got off more like babbling than anything he would’ve given thought to. Without trying to look obvious about studying him, Seb shifted his weight to get a better angle from the front. Still looked like him, though the smile wasn’t completely right, either.


Chapter 23