Ok, got it. If you want to stay in book view and be assured that you're not inputting an then this sequence works:
1. Highlight the rift between the two parts of the paragraph
2. I seem to be unable to not highlight the first character of the lower half
3. Press DEL then SPACEBAR then type the character you also highlighted to replace it.
Poof, a regular space instead of an and you haven't had to go to code view!! The workflow is smooth.