Next Stop, Chancey

Chancey Books, Book 1

By: Kay Dew Shostak

Narrated by: Suzanne Barbetta

Looking in your teenage daughter's purse is never a good idea.

After all, it ended up with Carolina Jessup opening a bed & breakfast for railroad fanatics in a tiny Georgia mountain town. Carolina knows all about, and hates, small towns. How did she end up leaving her wonderful Atlanta suburbs behind while making her husband's dreams come true?

The town bully (who wears a lavender skirt and white gloves), an endless parade of teenagers through her house, and everybody's talk about a ghost have Carolina looking for an escape, or at least a way to move back home. Instead, she's front and center for all of Chancey's small town gossip.

Unlike back home in the suburbs with privacy fences and automatic garage doors, everybody in Chancey thinks your business is their business and they all love the newest Chancey business. The B&B hosts a Senate candidate, a tea for the county fair beauty contestants, and railroad nuts who sit out by the tracks and record the sound of a train going by. Yet, nobody believes Carolina prefers the 'burbs.

Oh, yeah, and if you just ignore a ghost, will it go away?

©2015 Kay Dew Shostak (P)2016 Kay Dew Shostak

Cute Small Town Southern Book

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Next Stop, Chancey. The book took me a few chapters to get interested in but once the cute descriptions of small town life began, with the tight social circle of women, I was hooked. I grew up in the South and now live in the Northeast but small town life can be anywhere. Neighbors knowing your business and being volunteered for things are the bad; but your kids being looked after by the whole community and always having someone you can call on for help being the good. The story starts out as a family moving from the suburbs to a very small town in Georgia when a mother finds some condoms in her daughter’s purse. The book moves on to the mother herself having a bit of a midlife crisis. She grew up in a small town herself and does not like the drama but gets drawn in anyway. What started with trying to get her daughter out of a crisis ends up putting the whole family in a bigger spectacle. The narrator has a great Southern accent and carries the story along. I recommend the book but not sure if I will pick up the sequels about the town just yet.

Fun and funny

This book was a true family book that anyone could read and enjoy. if your looking for a clean book this is it

Next stop, Chancey

4.5 stars!
This was a really cute, fun, sweet, and a true southern book! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I love a good southern book and this one was just dripping with southern charm. I could almost taste the grits and sweet potato pie while listening.

Ok, I just want to say - pecan pumpkin muffins!!! Oh my gosh, I would die for one of those!

I honestly don't understand the fascination with trains and the railroad, but I guess that's just me. I did think it was neat that all the rooms in the B&B were a different train theme.

I loved this family and their new friends. Very good character development. The situations and people were very real, they just seemed like people next door. This book kind of reminded me of Steel Magnolias (one of my favorite movies!) and the TV series (that only lasted one season, but I loved it) Good Christian Bi+ches (pardon the almost swearing LOL).

Audio - The narrator did a fantastic job! I loved her. She had a great voice. It says she's from Jersey but she sure sounded southern. So if that wasn't natural she did a great job!

This is book one in a series and I would love to keep reading, or listening. My first one by this author and already I'm sold.

I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this audio book from Audiobookworm Promotions - Thank You!

Hated that it ended

Great story with trains and a B&B! Great characters. Loved how Carolina transformed! PERFECT narrator

Entertaining small town story

Would you consider the audio edition of Next Stop, Chancey to be better than the print version?

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, because of a very good narrator, who made the characters come alive.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think that my favorite character was the 'ghost', who played the role of Caroline's therapeutic sounding board in her efforts to adjust to her new, small town life.

What does Suzanne Barbetta bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I loved her narration, she made the characters sound different, and portrayed their different personalities very well.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

My favorite moment of the book was when Caroline realized she didn't hate small town, she hated small people.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this story about a traditional, small town in Georgia, as seen through the eyes of an outsider. It made me smile, when Caroline was trying to get used to the lack of sushi and other kind of gourmet food in a local store. The book was well written, with interesting characters and a good plot. I didn't expect fast paced action or many twists and turns, and it wasn't there. But interactions between people, different personalities and complex human relationship made it a good read.

Not much ever happens in a small town? Well, nothing except a lady in a fur coat over her nightdress walking on the sidewalk, a person chasing after a sword, an illicit affair on the side of the rail tracks, vile gossip, a secret door, and a ghost. That sounds like a sleepy, little town.


I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

3.5/5 A Look at Small Town Life

Summary: Carolina Jessup panics after she finds condoms in her daughter’s purse. She sells her house, packs up her family, and moves them to a small town, all the while hating small towns as she’ll repeatedly let you know

Additional Comments:
- There are a lot of characters to keep straight, but the audio performance was well-handled. Male voices sort of sound the same, but the main characters have distinct voices and the narrator does the female Southern accent very well.
- The main character complains a fair amount in the book. She’s constantly doubting her decision to move the family, even though she knows her husband enjoys the new place and the fact that it’s near trains.
- The book’s essentially a small town soap opera. The gossip flies fast and the muffins are fine. Everybody knows everybody else’s business. The teenage daughter finds herself competing for the top social slot. The boy finds a new friend and sort of disappears into the countryside to reappear from time to time and ask for food.
- There’s the added intrigue of the ghost story, but to be honest, the explanation sort of ruined it. Maybe I’m just too much a fan of paranormal twists to books.
- The main character does sort of find out what she wants by the end, but it was a pretty arduous mental “I should be happy here” journey.

Conclusion: If small town gossip’s your thing, then this is just the book for you. It’s a study in small town modern suburban existence.

Escape to a small town

Easy listen for a escape to a small town. Delightful story. Fun listen to relax

Ghostly Story

A great story about a small southern town where there may or may not be ghost??!!! Suzanne Barbetta did an amazing job with the characters and keep the story moving along smoothly. I highly recommend this book/audio. “I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Next Stop ,Chancey

I absolutely loved this book!Carolina moves her family from the fast city to a slow town on a whim.They are coerced into opening the Bed and Breakfast they had been mulling over.Life in a small town means everyone knows your business...whether it is true or not.Suzanne Barbetta is perfect at narrating this book.I was provided this book free by the author, narrator or publisher.

Boring

Unfortunately this story was so slow moving I could not finish it. I found the characters one dimensional and struggled with staying interested.