3.75 stars Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Books for a free ARC. Publishes March 28, 2023

Such a fun story. Character driven, laugh out loud funny, mystery. Put an octogenarian and a 21 year old together on a cross country road trip in an aging Jaguar, add in a decades old crime and a failed soccer career, then put a twist at the end. That sums up to one hilarious novel you just can't put down.

4.5 stars
.Loved the characters of Tanner and Louise, as well as reading about their adventures . A totally delightful read that kept me engaged from start to finish

What a Hoot!

The moment 20-something Tanner becomes a caretaker for 84 year-old Louise, is when Tanner embarks on a true adventure. Little did Tanner know when she took the job, that Louise is not the sweet, innocent old lady she purported herself to be!

Hilarity and Hijinks ensued when these two hit the road in order to escape the police and visit an old friend of Louise’s. Lots of laughter occurred as these two got to know each other and discovered mutual admiration and developed an abiding friendship.

A sweet, funny, and endearing novel that had me laughing and smiling.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the arc.

This book started out with a college drop out coming to live with an elderly woman as her caretaker.
Tanner (the college dropout) only ever wanted to play soccer. However, her dream was shattered when she fell off a porch and broke her leg i n several places. She lost her college scholarship, harbored resentment toward her best friend (for inviting her to the party where the accident happened), and toward herself (for the results of her actions). On top of these issues, her mother kicked her out of the house. While at Louise's , she lays around all day in sweats and plays video games.
Louise (an 84 yr old woman) recovering from a hip fracture, who has a secret which Tanner discovers, and which causes them to take off for California to find George. As they cross the country, they discover themselves and each other. This book has the bones of a fun adventure but I thought that it was a little overdone. There was a lot of extraneous information/background which I didn't feel added to the story. Also, there were too many improbable situations and coincidences in the story which just didn't ring true.
This is a very light read - it could have been a lot of fun, but the multiple improbable situations did me in.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Colleen Oakley, the author of “The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise,” has written a unique and riveting novel. The genres are Literary Friendship Fiction, Contemporary, Humor, Mystery, and Women’s Fiction. The timeline is written in the author’s present and goes to the past regarding the characters or events. The author describes her colorful and dramatic characters as complex, complicated, quirky, and full of surprises! In this novel, Colleen Oakley’s characters are reminiscent of Thelma and Louise. Tanner Quimby is 21 and mopes around her house after a tragic accident, ruminating about what might have been. Tanner also plays video games and has no money. She is encouraged to care for an elderly woman. Louise Wilt has fallen and required surgery. She is a seasoned 80-ish-year-old woman with an exciting past and many secrets. Louise’s children insist that she have a “Nanny.” Louise has a routine and really would like to be independent. When Tanner and Louise meet, they are like oil and water. Tanner is immediately aware of quirky behaviors of Louise. It seems that Louise is not precisely the typical 80 -ish type of person. Then again, Tanner doesn’t appear to be a typical 21-year-old person either. Tanner is in for quite a surprise when Louise insists they leave town immediately. The two go on an adventure with twists and turns. There are rumors of a large jewel heist from the seventies, and Louise seems to be called another name when she meets some people. There are twists and turns. Louise is on a mission to find someone and, at the same time, avoids both a criminal and the law. I enjoyed this delightful adventure as two women tried to remedy the mistakes from the past to be able to move on to the present and future. I love that the author discusses the importance of family, friendship, and hope. I highly recommend this enjoyable novel.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! The characters of Tanner and Louise are so well described that I felt I knew them by the end of the book and I didn’t want to let them go.

Tanner has lived her entire life for the love of soccer. She has been training and playing since she was a youngster. She was good enough to receive a full scholarship to Northwestern and her future was looking very good indeed.

What she couldn’t foresee was an accident that left her leg crushed. Tanner needs to find a job and move out of her parents basement. If she is to return to Northwestern she also will have to come up with about $10,000 in tuition!

84 y/o Louise Wilt has been on her own since her husband passed away a few years previously. She has always been fiercely independent.

When she falls and needs hip surgery – her children insist that she needs live-in help. Louise has pushed against it until a situation presents itself that may be tolerable.

Tanner is a neighbor looking for a job with no real skills and Louise needs someone to drive her to her appointments, run errands, etc as she can no longer drive.

Their relationship starts out with each ignoring each other except for the needed interactions.

After a few weeks Tanner notices some changes. Louise is unsettled, she keeps lots of drawers and cabinets locked and her shed is heavily padlocked. She sees a news article that changes everything she thinks she knows about Louise. WHO IS THIS WOMAN!!

No one is more surprised than Tanner when Louise wakes her one night and tells her that they have to get on the road right away. Her reason, a friend is dying and she needs to get to see George before it’s too late.

WE ARE OFF ON OUR ADVENTURE! Lots to discover here – did Louise have a part of her life that she has kept secret all these years?

The twists in this novel are great fun to discover and kept me turning the pages to the satisfying ending.

Watching the two women, years apart in age, form a bond is uplifting and enjoyable. We can all ask ourselves, is there something we can do to help another person that is struggling? Maybe we have more to offer than we thought!

I can highly recommend this one, it’s a good mystery, a great story of friendship amidst struggle and just a whole lot of fun!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

This story was such a treat. I loved the unlikely relationship (and eventual friendship — or maybe just mutual understanding!) between Tanner and Louise. It included family drama, a cross-country road trip, a dash of romance, and some FBI storylines... ! I was excited to see where the story would take me, and enjoyed the mix of character- and plot-driven elements. Perfect for fans of The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, This one publishes 3/28/23!

A great time and an unexpected adventure. I really enjoyed Tanner’s initial insecurity and journey to come into her own contrasted with Louise and her life long-lived. The book will speak to readers of all ages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Writing was mediocre and the constant use of parentheses (used as asides in conversation) started to get on my nerves. Tanner was whiny and needed to grow up. I really loved Louise though! A tough, no nonsense 80 year old woman with a past she fiercely protects. She teaches Tanner some lessons on life as they drive across the country "on the run." It keeps being compared to Thelma and Louise...don't expect that. It's a light read when you want to be entertained but don't want to think to hard.

3.5 stars for this one! Tanner is living an aimless life, living with, and helping the local sassy elderly woman, Louise. An old unsolved jewelry heist on the news, sends them escaping in the middle of the night, and hightailing it cross-country while being chased by the police?!

Their misguided adventure provides you with some humor, intrigue and a little romance. The story kept me guessing in a fun way, and made me really appreciate the no nonsense, no filter, type humor that I think everyone gets at a certain age.

I had little issue with the overall book, though my one nagging irritant was that the author had some background stories that were not developed well enough to have made sense to keep them in the book . They were thrown in a little arbitrarily and left hanging in spots. (FBI agent’s personal story for example) Other than that, I breezed through it in a couple days and overall enjoyed the banter throughout.

Thank you NetGalley Berkeley Publishing for the ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

What an unexpectedly enjoyable book! At first glance, you might not consider this novel for a book group. I will choose this for my group. There are many themes to discuss including family secrets and what to share or not share; friendships between young adults and mature adults; and what happens when you are really there for someone.

I did respond to Book browse about this book. Favorable rating. Clever dialogue. Mashup of Thelma and Louise going rogue.. I gave it 4 stars

4 unlikely pair stars

Take an entirely capable 80+-year-old woman (until she falls) and a 21-year-old young woman, forced together to help each other out. I think this is an apt title for this book as I always wondered what the real truth was for these characters!

Louise needs someone to drive her to appointments while she recovers from her injury and Tanner needs a place to live after too many outbursts with her parents and recovering from her own injury. It was very interesting to get the perspectives of these characters from their own points of view. Louise can’t understand how Tanner can dress so casually and play hours of video games. Tanner can’t understand how Louise can savor her happy hour drink and why are there so many locked drawers in the house. By getting both viewpoints, I learned to really know them and root for them.

The book takes a sudden turn when Louise wakes up Tanner in the middle of the night saying that they must leave town immediately. It takes a bit of convincing, but Tanner would really like to get back to college and finish her degree and Louise is willing to pay her.

The two of them embark on a madcap drive across the country with Louise not giving Tanner much insight into what she is doing. Just who is Louise and why is she fleeing? And why is Tanner agreeing to help her?
There was a surprise twist at the end and one of my favorite lines comes from August and the word homophone. I love a smart character who knows vocabulary!

This book was a delight to read. The two main characters are years apart in age and very different in temperament. Thrown together by misfortune, they struggle to maintain a relationship. Both characters became more likable to me as the story went on and I learned more about them.
Humor abounds throughout the story amongst all the characters. There is also a great deal of warmth and sweetness to story.
Being an older reader myself, I like the idea of a strong older character.
There is a bit of a mystery involved, with twists and turns making it a very enjoyable read.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise is a book that as a book has a great premise but I never connected with.

Colleen Oakley has vivid characters and a good framework for a story but I never connected to Tanner or Louise and I hate that because the book is funny and Oakley is a great world builder. I always hate when characters are hard to connect with and overall I liked the book but would have loved it and I wish they were more relatable.

I hope to read another book from Oakley because of her strengths but Tanner & Louise didn’t hit for me.

Octogenarians are definitely having a moment in literature!

Some have taken road trips to attain something, while others have taken one because they needed an escape!

A few have been amateur detectives or retired assassins…and now, we have Mrs. Wilt-who just might be the “never caught” renowned jewel thief of the famous Kinsey diamond.

Ever since 21 year old, Tanner Quimby got injured and lost her Soccer scholarship, she has been in a rut. She sits around in sweat pants, playing “Horizon Zero Dawn” for hours, because now that Soccer is off the table-she isn’t sure what to do with her life.

Louise Wilt, needs a caretaker of sorts. Mostly, she needs a driver, because since falling, she is unable to operate a motor vehicle on her own. Tanner agrees to take the “job” hoping to make some money so she can return for her senior year at Northwestern.

But when Tanner sees a “breaking news” story about one of the greatest unsolved jewel heists in American History, she cannot help but notice that the age progressed “suspect” looks alarmingly like “Mrs. Wilt”.

So when Tanner is woken up by the sound of sirens, and Mrs. Wilt appears in her room with a packed pack at 1 AM insisting that they leave town immediately-she finds herself becoming the “getaway driver” for an 84 year old woman “on the lam”, while Mrs. Wilt’s daughter has to report both women as MISSING.

Yes, Tanner and Louise are on a “Thelma and Louise” road trip to California, inspired in part by the author’s own grandmother, a fierce woman who never missed her 5 PM cocktail and “didn’t suffer fools”!

Mrs. Wilt is always ONE STEP ahead of everyone, including the FBI, and Tanner just may learn something along the way that helps her to move forward in her own life.

This humorous adventure will be available on March 28, 2023!

Thank You to Berkley for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

I haven't had this much fun reading a book in a long time. I requested this book because the idea of an eighty-year-old woman going on the run for her past crimes tickles me pink. What I expected and what I got exceeded all expectations.

Tanner, the twenty-something whose sports dreams were cut short due to an injury. Depressed and desperate for money and a place to stay, she accepts the position of driving around an elderly woman recovering from her own accident. But her days of playing video games and lazing around are cut short when she realizes Louise may not be who she says she is.

I love the Thelma and Louise angle with sassy Louise pulling the strings and Tanner learning a bit or two about friendship and, well, guns. The two could not any more different. Louise is about living her best life while Tanner is very...reserved.

The road trip (I LOVE ROAD TRIPS!) forces eir proximity, but they both seem to lean into each other along the way. Their banter is hilarious and heartfelt as their friendship grows, despite the mystery of what crimes Louise has committed looming over them.

This is my first book by this author, but it won't be my last. This book gets all the stars and all the hopes that it becomes a movie.

I love a feel good story and that is what this is. Tanner is a miserable ex college student who has lost her athletic scholarship due to injury. She gets a job caring for Louise, an irascible elderly woman who also is living incognito and is wanted by the FBI. So starts a marvelous journey of friendship as they race to get to Louise’s friend George before the mob does. Touching, funny, page turner- Colleen Oakley has done it again!

Review of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

Fun, well-written, and studded with surprises, The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise will tickle you, encourage you, and keep you turning the pages.

Twenty-one-year-old Tanner is in a funk after an injury derails her soccer career.
Eighty-four-year-old Louise is on a mission to correct a past mistake.

Never have two such different women needed each other so much. But exactly why they need each other creates a book chockful of rich themes.

The most obvious theme is friendship, especially friendship that can transcend a significant generation gap. Here’s where the book sparkles. Tanner and Louise make assumptions about each other from the get-go. Though the idea of a generation gap is nothing new, this “Mostly True Story” examines why we make snap judgments and how that inhibits good relationships. The women’s cross-country car journey serves as a structure that delivers them from postulations to understanding.

Mistakes—or perceived mistakes—is another important theme. As readers, we have the objectivity to see clearly, and this causes us to root for the characters who are muddling more through mistaken beliefs than true failures. It's relatable because who of us hasn’t done the same? Who hasn’t lost sleep over worries about how we could have done something differently? How Tanner and Louise handle and think about their regrets is food for thought about how we, the readers, handle our own.

Author Colleen Oakley also explores what constitutes real intimacy in relationships—whether it’s a friendship or a love interest. Though the main characters of Tanner and Louise are very different, they are the same in many ways, primarily in how they reveal themselves to others. Both are reticent to share too much. Both would prefer to keep their true identities safely concealed. Both want others to accept them for face value instead of revealing vulnerabilities.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is about understanding and accepting yourself and others and moving on in life. And, as the title reflects, this witty novel will keep you guessing till its satisfying conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a chance to review this early.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise has been aptly compared to Thelma and Louise and Midnight Run. It tells the story of an unlikely duo--21-year-old Tanner and 84-year-old Louise on the run from Florida to California. As the trip unfolds, we learn more about what brought the two protagonists to where they are today. I thought the author did a great job of doling out information about the women's pasts in a way that made me re-evaluate my initial impressions of them and showed the women to be complex, fully-realized characters. The book was a light read but also explored some deep issues, such as domestic violence. Would definitely recommend!