re = /\h*\R(?=[a-z])(?!or$)/m
str = 'Books are an effective way to
communicate across time, both from the past and into the future.
Chapter 3
The Importance of Reading
or
Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life
'
subst = ' '
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html