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

Yet…he sat opposite Levi, unblinking, unfazed by the turn of their conversation. A turn he’d made.


“Magic?” Levi parroted, then winced at what a fool he sounded.


“You tried messing with someone,” Pap said. “And it backfired on you worse than Mr. Marling’s truck.”


“Where do you think you got it from?”


He’d thought he’d been dumbstruck before. He was wrong.


Pap had magic? But then…he knew. He understood what potential was, how anything was possible, that all it took was the will and the effort to make the world conform the way you wished. He didn’t have to worry about how to put food on the table, because he could always find a way to get it.


Most of all, he didn’t have to be afraid, not of anything.


When Levi didn’t respond, Pap grunted and shook his head. “Stubborn. Just like your mother.”


That introduced a whole host of questions. The floodgates opened.


Chapter 49