The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise is a funny and intriguing tale that will have you rooting for the characters even long after finishing it. I do wish that there was a bit more to the scenes between Louise and Tanner to show their unlikely friendship blossoming, but there is still enough there to satisfy the reader. I also appreciate the meaningful moments that kept this from being a run of the mill buddy comedy. I highly recommend, and look forward to more from the author.

Thank you to Berkley for a widget of the ARC through NetGalley. Now available.

A fantastic romp of a story, I loved everything about it. Oakley has the ability to write the most unique, heartfelt characters.

What a fun ramp of a novel - an adventurous road trip! Excellent, quirky characters with a plot of twists and turns and laugh out loud humor! Abounding with the power of friendship and love. An enjoyable, entertaining read! Well worth the trip!

A bit of a spin on Thelma and Louise, this time pairing an elderly woman and a young woman. I loved this mismatched dynamic. Overall I thought the story was great fun-a jewel thief? maybe? how many secrets can this old lady have? was sort of the vibe and I also enjoyed Tanner's backstory. She's not really a ne'er do well at all-she just hit a major stumble and now needs to figure out what to do.
I also really liked the intermittent chapters that showed Louise's adult children participating in the investigation as to where Louise is and what secrets she has.
Funny and ultimately heartwarming.
Thank you NetGalley!

This wonderful story will have you laughing out loud. The book is about two wome. One is eighty four years old and the other is a college dropout. Tanner is looking for a room to rent and finds one with Louise. At first they are both determined to not become friends. Louise has committed a crime and is on the run from the law. Tanner and Louise form an unbreakable bond and a friendship that will last a long time. A great book for any book club or any reader to get a good laugh out of.

This book was everything! Think Thelma and Louise but with a 21 year old and 80 year old.

Tanner got kicked out of college and needs a job and place to stay. Cue Louise. Louise is an old lady who needs someone to drive her around. Things are going good until Tanner sees a news story about an old jewelry heist case. Now she is the getaway driver with Louise in the passenger seat to see her old friend George.

The conversations and the banter are everything in this book. Throw in the fact that the story is fun till the very end and you have a great book.

I enjoyed The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise for lots of reasons:

- humor + heart
- intergenerational friendship
- road trip adventure
- race against time
- epistolary aspect (emails)
- mentions Nebraska - my state!

Tanner and Louise couldn't be more different. Tanner is a sullen college athlete whose future is in shambles after a serious leg injury. Louise is a snarky 84-year-old widow whose daughter insists she must have a live-in caregiver as her health declines. Tanner needs a job and a place to live; Louise needs a driver to maintain her routine. Their partnership seems perfect on paper, but neither their lifestyles nor personalities align. Tanner sees and hears things that make her suspicious ... and then Louise wakes her in the middle of the night, launching them on a cross-country road trip. Are they running from - or toward - something?

In this novel, Colleen Oakley had me laughing on one page and tearing up on the next. Both Tanner and Louise are flawed, dimensional characters, and their growth throughout the story was well written. The cast of secondary characters was also great. Readers of many ages can enjoy this; it would be fun for a family multi-generational book club or buddy read.

I love that authors are writing more novels featuring strong mature characters in all their curmudgeonly glory. I'm hopeful this trend continues and expands.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the review copy.

Such a heartwarming book! Fall in love with the multigenerational cast of characters. Stay for the banter, road trip hijinks, mystery, and the relationship development between the characters. Loved!

My favourite genre - fiction with a loveable senior befriending a younger person and building a friendship and uncanny relationship.

This novel is the perfect amount of laughs, mystery and loveable characters that had me smiling from the first page to the last.

Thank you for the advanced copy NetGalley and the publisher!

I absolutely adored Colleen Oakley's previous book, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, so I was super excited to read this one. As a traditionally romance or mystery reader, this delve into more general fiction is a bit outside my comfort zone! But honestly, this book is great for anyone.

In this story, we see Tanner, living at home after a sports-ending injury cancels her college soccer scholarship, moves in with her elderly neighbor, Louise, to care for her. When Louise demands they leave in the middle of the night and leave their phones behind, the two begin a cross-country road trip, on the run from the police and to save a friend from danger. Tanner, tired of playing by the rules, goes along with Louise even though she suspects she's a famous jewel thief on the lam.

This book is so much fun and the ending is just *chef's kiss.* I will read anything Colleen Oakley writes, as she is a genius, and her premises are so creative and out there without being unbelievable.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Colleen Oakley, and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise in exchange for an honest review. This may be one of my favorite books that I read thus far this year. We start out meeting our two main characters (Tanner & Louise) and we get to see them learn to live together. Shortly after Tanner moves in, the ladies head out on the run in order to go see a mysterious person named George. Throughout the road trip, we see Tanner grow so much but we also see their relationship blossom in ways that truly will warm your heart. Fast forwarding to the end, we are hit with a twist that I didnt see coming and it really added to the overall depth of the story! I truly loved everything about this book and its one I wish I could read again for the first time. This one is out now and I truly recommend you picking it up for your collection!

A delightful journey packed with adventure and humor. It is the perfect book for anyone that just wants levity with some charm, friendship, and a little romance. I also love a story about unlikely friendships and throw in multigenerational characters and I am usually smitten. The dialogue was smart and the characters very likable with their own quirks. I highly recommend this one for a summer or vacation read!

I love a good caper, an adventure, some shenanigans, and this book has it all. Who doesn’t want to read about an old lady with a mysterious past, a snarky, aimless college student, and a cross-country road trip? Oakley’s characters are so well crafted, and she imbues her writing with such humor! This book also had a lot of great things to say about strength, morality, purpose, friendship, and womanhood. I absolutely adored this book and already want to read it again!

After an injury ruined her soccer career and her financial situation forced her to pause on college, 21 year old Tanner is lost and finds herself becoming a live-in caretaker for Louise, an elderly woman. While they start off ignoring each other, things take a turn when Tanner sees a woman on the news who looks a lot like Louise…a woman who is wanted for a major unsolved jewelry heist from decades before. Then in the middle of the night, Louise comes to Tanner with a packed bag saying they need to go, and the two begin an adventure running from their pasts.

This book is a wild ride and I adored every moment of it.. I quickly fell in love with these characters, especially crotchety Louise, and loved the very unlikely friendship they forged. The element of adventure and mystery kept me guessing and I truly never knew what was going to happen next. This book was just so much fun and I flew through it because I was so invested in the story from the beginning. I highly recommend grabbing this one!

Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the advance copy and to @berittalksbooks and @dg_reads for the buddy read!

I will say the book took some time getting into, the first little bit was slow going but once Tanner and Louise get on their road trip this book really picked up. I definitely had to push through the first 30% or so, but that also really helped me connect with the characters a little more. I loved the dynamic between the two ladies and watching their friendship grow as they navigate through some interesting reveals.

I love a story full of heart and humor, especially one that features an unlikely friendship with a cast of interesting secondary characters too. This book has it all. A lot of adventure, a little romance, surprising twists in an unputdownable novel that left me smiling with a hint of happy tears in my eyes. It's fun, it's beautiful and you don't want to miss it!
This book is going right on my favorites shelf.

With humor and compassion, the author tells a story of the different directions that can be taken, sometimes breaking the rules. Tanner is an angry young woman who lost her soccer scholarship in her junior year of college due to an accident that should not have happened. When given the,push to move out of her house, and move in with an 84 year old Louise, Tanner agrees to it without knowing the chain of events that would follow. As Tanner and Louise head off cross country, their relationship develops as Louise’s story slowly unfolds. I loved the pace of the story, the twists and turns, but mostly, the unique relationship that develops between Tanner and Louise. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book is about a young woman named Tanner who is having difficulty becoming independent of her parents. She actually avoids taking
responsibility by playing a lot of video games. Tanner's parents would like her to become employed so she can leave the house.
One day Tanner discovers a job that entails taking care of an elderly woman named Louise.
Tanner is very content to do very little for Louise. Louise would also prefer Tanner to stay at a distance, due to some secrets of her own.
One day something happens that makes it imperative that Louise has to leave town. Of course she needs a driver so Tanner and Louise decide to go on a wild adventure across the country.
This adventure is full of surprises, and will keep the reader entertained either waiting for the next humorous incident or on the edge of their seat in suspense.
Wonderfully entertaining and heartwarming!

Colleen Oakley wrote some wonderful twists in this buddy-road-trip-on -the -lam book. Tanner and Louise's progression throughout the story was so good, so fulfilling. Sometimes we just need someone else to remind us that we are worth it.

Tanner has been floundering since an accident that left her unable to play soccer anymore. She feels as if she has lost her purpose in life. Louise is an elderly woman who needs someone to help her after surgery. Tanner is volunteered and their relationship begins. Louise sees the anger in Tanner and I think feels a kinship. We find out Louise's backstory when they go on the run. Louise fearing a gangster that is being released from prison. The FBI are chasing them because they think Louise had robbed a hotel/casino and had an expensive diamond. She had lead quite the life!

Things keep turning as we go out on the road. I love the way we are taken along for the ride, feeling Tanner's anxiety and Louise's lust for life.

A very enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for a copy for review.

I've been a fan of Colleen Oakley's since her debut and one of the things that I most love about her work is how each of her books are so different from one another but special in their own ways. Tanner and Louise was such a fun read and I loved the relationship between the elderly Louise and young Tanner - delightful is one word that comes to mind when describing it.

4.5 stars