The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks is about a former marine, Logan Thibault, who finds luck in a woman's picture that he found while on duty in Iraq.  He travels, by walking with his German Shepherd Zeus, from Colorado to Hampton County, North Carolina to find this mystery woman.  The book creates suspense by switching to a different character each chapter, these characters includes Beth, who seems to be the woman from the picture, and her ex-husband, Clayton, who is a sheriff.  Beth and her grandma, Nana own a dog training and boarding kennel.  In between being a teacher and raising her son, Ben, she works at the kennel, helping with clients.  Thibault, determined to find the woman and to thank her for the great luck during the war, narrows down where she could be and asks in the small town where he could find her.  He comes to the kennel and instead of explaining what he is actually there for, he asks her for a job working there.  Nana agrees to hire him and he starts the next week.   

     

    The setting of this book is Hampton County, North Carolina.  The town is small and has a everybody knows each other feel to it.  So, it is no surprise that when a stranger waltzes in everyone is weary of him.

"As crazy as it sounded, he was looking at her as though he recognized her.  But she'd never seen him before; she was sure of that." (72).

"No one passed through Hampton and decided to stay here on a whim.  Charlotte, yes.   Raleigh, of course.  Greensboro, absolutely.  But Hampton? Not a chance." (75).

     The year the book takes place is sometime after 2007.  I know this because it mentions that Logan was on one of his tours in Iraq in 2005, and that the present part of the book takes place after he is honorably discharged two years later. 

"Thibault didn't want to return to Iraq, but once more, in February 2005, the First, Fifth was called up." (81).

" 'After that, I joined the marines, and I received an honorable discharge two years ago.'"  (75).  

     Another very vivid part of the setting is Logan noticing that the town has very old buildings and architecture. 

"The place was one-story, southern rustic, and at least a hundred years old, but kept in relatively good repair.  After rubbing the dirt from the windows, he peeked inside.  It needed some work, but not the kind that would prevent him from moving in.  The kitchen was definitely old-school, and there was a wood-burning stove in the corner, one that probably provided the house's only heat.  The wide-plank pine flooring was scuffed and stained, and the cabinets had probably been around since the place was built, but these things seemed to add to the house's character rather that detract from it.  Even better, it seemed to be furnished with the basics: couch and end tables, lamps, even a bed." (86-87).