A skeptical New York science journalist travels to a small Southern town to debunk its mysterious lights, and meets the town librarian
A skeptic in Boone Creek
Jeremy Marsh is a confident New York science journalist who has built a career exposing psychics, hoaxes and so-called supernatural events. When he hears about mysterious lights that appear in an old burial ground in Boone Creek, a tiny town in North Carolina, he drives south expecting an easy story. Instead, he meets Lexie Darnell, the town librarian, who is not impressed by him at all.
Who will enjoy it
Readers who enjoy warm romances with a light mystery, small-town charm and a hero forced to rethink what he believes.
What you will get
A warm, gently mysterious romance about a skeptical city journalist who investigates strange lights in a small Southern town and falls for its librarian.
True Believer Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Romance · Small town · Mystery lights · Skeptic in love
Length
480 pages · ≈ 14 h
More about this book
The setup is a classic fish out of water. Jeremy is quick-witted and a little arrogant; the people of Boone Creek are eccentric, friendly and determined to turn his visit into a tourist event. Lexie, who lives with her grandmother Doris, a woman known for her uncanny intuitions, keeps Jeremy at arm's length, having been hurt before. Their sparring conversations are among Sparks's liveliest, and the romance builds with real charm.
The investigation of the lights gives the book a pleasant thread of mystery, and Sparks wisely offers an answer that is satisfying without mocking anyone. The real question, though, is whether a man who believes only in what he can measure can trust feelings he cannot explain. The second half deals with the difficult practicalities of a long-distance relationship, and there are some surprisingly honest moments. As usual, there is emotion but less tragedy than in some of his novels.
Fans who want more can follow Jeremy and Lexie in the sequel, At First Sight. The quirky town characters are a delight. About 480 pages in the Grand Central mass-market paperback.
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The Choice
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A Walk to Remember
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Evvie Drake Starts Over
The Best of Me
A Bend in the Road
Dear John