Talk of the Townies: The Swinton Sweeties #1

by Gwenna Laithland

Swinton, Oklahoma runs on gossip.

The supply is managed by The Gaggle—a flock of civic-minded busybodies who treat the town Facebook pages like a public records database and everyone else’s life like a community project.

So when ceramic artist Didi Stephens moves to town to help her twin brother and open her dream pottery studio, the Gaggle immediately decides she’s the perfect solution to another civic

Chief of Police Foster Grady needs to get over his divorce. Within days, the town has already decided Didi and Foster are secretly dating. Didi suggests the obvious solution.

The town wants a romance? Give them one.

A pretend relationship will convince the Gaggle Foster has finally moved on and give Didi the publicity she needs to launch her studio. All they have to do is hold hands in public, show up together to town events, and survive the rumor mill. Easy.

Except Swinton is currently dealing with a serial panty thief, the Gaggle has begun planning Foster and Didi’s wedding, and the more convincing their fake relationship becomes, the harder it is to remember it started as damage control.

Because in Swinton, once you become talk of the townies, the whole town expects a happy ending. And everyone is watching.

324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 26, 2026

About the author

Gwenna Laithland was born and raised in Oklahoma, the only child of a military family with both parents serving in the United States Air Force. She has absolutely no idea what she is doing most of the time but is pretty confident she is doing an okay job. She still lives in Oklahoma with her husband, Jackson, their three children and two spoiled dogs.

Reviews

[Kelly Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐
I thought the story was cute, but the grammatical errors and redundant bits of dialogue were distracting.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but could have used another round of editing.

[Ali Pethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

delightful, a great relaxing read

This has been a great escapist book this summer. It is so easy to read, the story is delightful, the characters are super relatable. I highly recommend this book if you just need a nice romantic comedy.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved listening to Gwenna Laithland for years, and her writing style and word choice makes me happy. I enjoyed the humor and the characters. Parts of dialogue felt a little pointed at times, and some of the conflict towards the end felt out of place, like there weren't enough pebbles throughout the story to equal the landslide. Overall its an enjoyable, cozy read.

[Dragon Be Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: contemporary anything isn't truly my thing, and contemporary romance isn't anywhere close to what normally draws me to a story.

That said, Talk of the Townies dragged me in kicking and screaming, shoved me into a comfy overstuffed armchair, handed me a delicious artisan coffee beverage, and regaled me with the cutest romance I've encountered in a minute!

Gwenna Laithland's ability to weave a story drew me in quite quickly, introducing Didi Stephens and Foster Grady in such a way that I could have sworn I knew them - and in fact, I did. They and the rest of the Swinton Townies are every small town community I've ever encountered, and if you live or have lived in a Midwestern or Southern small town, you'll recognize your neighbors in them. You will spend a good deal of the book reminiscing about those people and those places. I giggled more over the Townies' antics than I had anticipated I would, and that made me even happier to read on.

Didi and Foster are very grounded characters, each with their own baggage they must open up and put away. The best part, though, is that they aren't ultra-hip, overly-trendy, or even remotely annoying. They are incredibly relatable - they're people that have actual weight, flaws, and feel very much like they could be any one of us!

You know what I loved the most? The way the town simply grew richer with every chapter. The town's own Facebook page made several appearances, which tickled me beyond belief. Truly, I am begging for a small town mystery to be told solely through the "Swinton Town Page (Official) NO DRAMA!!" page!

If you're looking for a cozy romance set in small town middle America, with a tiny dash of mystery, some hijinks, and the most lovely cast of characters you might find, grab a cup of your favorite coffee, a big ol' cinnamon roll, and a copy of Talk of the Townies. You'll be one of the Gaggle in no time!

Many thanks to Gwenna Laithland and her PA, Jennifer Jimeson, for allowing me to read this ARC; doing so has not influenced me, and all thoughts on this review are my own.

[Minding My Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book!! As someone who has lived in a small town (with 2 Main Streets too!) for the last 10 years, I can definitely identify a lot of the characters with people in my own town. The characters are all well thought out and layered. There are genuinely laugh out loud moments in the book and I LOVED the addition of the Facebook posts. Didi and Foster are such likeable characters and show so much growth through the book.

I also like that Didi was a curvier/plus size FMC. In a lot of books that feature curvy/plus FMCs, it has become something that authors mention once or twice, kind of just in passing. It’s just something that’s said and then nothing more. The world does not always conform or even accept larger people in some spaces (as a plus size woman, I know). The fact that Didi brought it up and claimed her space at the coffee house table instead of hanging off the side of bench feels very important. It also brings me to the next things I enjoyed.

Other than Didi taking ownership of her space at the table, two other parts stood out as being applicable to the real world. They are the quote from Dillion about Didi taking control of her life and treatment of the Chesterfields. I really liked that both of these were added to help make the reader think, after reading the book, about the world around them.

The only issue I had with the book was the pace in the first part. It was a little slow in the first few chapters of the book and I know things are slower because of the world building. You can feel a shift in the book and things begin to become smoother, pacing is almost perfection, and the dialogue is perfect. I cannot wait to read Cats Out Of The Bag!!

[Liz Baylus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve followed Gwenna Laithland, AKA MommaCusses on TikTok for years and more recently on IG and Threads, where she’s been talking about her new series, the Swinton Sweeties. Set in Swinton, Oklahoma, the first book in the series Talk of the Townies follows Foster Grady, the town’s official sheriff, and Didi Stephens, the twin sister of the town’s only legal 🍃 store owner 👀 oh and she’s also an artist who’s preparing to open a community art studio in the other half of the building she owns with her brother.

This book is definitely a departure from my typical reading as there is no spice, but I didn’t miss it at all!! I laughed so hard I cried, I was rooting for Foster and Didi from start to finish, and the side characters had me cracking up at their antics and their inability to read a room 🤣 There’s a reason I’ve followed Gwenna for as long as I have, and I could not be more grateful I was chosen to help get the word out about this amazing book!!

[amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait for the next book!

I absolutely love these characters and I can't help but imagine Didi with Gwenna's voice and inflections as I am reading which makes me love it even more!