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

I absolutely loved this book! I am a huge fan of Oakley's previous novel, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, and I was hoping this one would leave me feeling the same way. Warm, fuzzy, a little emotionally spent, with a few great laughs between the covers. And I'm thrilled to say that I got exactly what I wanted! Like a bizarre "Thelma and Louise" or buddy road trip comedy, Tanner and Louise are incredibly winning characters who are easy to root for despite their flaws, There is nothing sappy about how their friendship progresses, just honesty, tension, and generational gaps that demand to be bridged, A truly lovely read.

Thank you to @berkleypub @netgalley for the # gifted copy of the book.

Tanner is miserable living at home after an accident ends her college soccer career. She finds herself hating life and her mom is pushing her out the door. She finds a job as an elderly live in caretaker for Louise Wilt. The two are an unlikely match, but Louise insists on taking a road trip and agrees to pay Tanner enough money so she can pay for her last year of college. Louise’s children report her missing and then the FBI gets involved.

I will admit that I was a little worried I wasn’t going to like this one but I ended up loving it. I enjoyed the banter between the two and there was so much to be learned from each other. It was an awesome road-trip. Read it.

Love the cover, love the title. Love the premise of the story. I think this is the perfect story to hand to someone headed on a summer vacation, looking for a book club book to discuss or just needs a good story.

This was a lovely read. I enjoyed reading about Tanner and Louise and their journey. The author did a great job bringing these women to life and exploring their choices. I do wish we had gotten more about George's and Patty's work helping women escape abusive husband's.

Thank you to Berkley for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

There are so many things to love about this book. The setting of a fun road trip that showcases a friendship between an 80+ woman and 21 year old woman. The motives behind Louise and her backstory. Tanner learning about herself and coming into her own now that life has changed for her.

The two women learn a lot throughout the book. They both are interesting characters, but the star and most interesting for me is Louise. I loved the twists, turns, and the unfolding mystery at the end.
This is another great book from Colleen Oakley.

THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER & LOUISE by Colleen Oakley (The Invisible Husband of Frick Island) is a LibraryReads selection for March and a very fun romp. The title characters are Tanner Quimby, a college student rehabbing from a leg injury who needs a job and place to live, and Louise Wilt, in her eighties who (according to her daughter) needs a live-in caregiver. Initially, the two do not mesh well at all, but gradually they do form a bond and then take off together on a road trip adventure, dodging the FBI and an organized crime gangster. There are plenty of humorous moments and several snide remarks about technology: "This is called conversation. It's what we used to do before cell phones ruined it." Plus, Oakley incorporates some serious reflection on the changing roles for women: "women didn't have as many choices back then as they do now. Sometimes you had to do the wrong thing to do the right thing." Both Tanner and Louise are transformed as they depend more and more on each other, but Tanner especially learns to break rules and take some chances. Have fun reading about this appealing odd couple!

I thoroughly enjoyed romping across country evading police and a mob boss with Louise and Tanner! What a fun ride with laugh-out-loud moments, as well as tender glimpses into each heart. Louise, age 84, and Tanner, a GenZ-er, form an unlikely pair, and their banter is perfectly written. The way @writercolleenoakley fleshed out the characters kept me turning the pages! It never slowed down. Was Louise really who Tanner thought she was? I loved how we get little tidbits of their stories along the way. And the ending was perfect!
Thank you to NetGalley, @berkleypub and @thoughtsfromapage for making it possible for me to read this ARC.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley is a Wonderful Friendship Fiction Story!

Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby, recovering from an off-the-field injury and still reeling from the loss of her soccer scholarship, is being forced out of her parents' house. She needs a job and a place to live fast, and the live-in caretaker position she hears about will have to do.

The client is eighty-four-year-old Louise Wilt, a widow who's recovering from a broken hip. Her kids decided she needs live-in help but she's not happy about it or welcoming to Tanner. Louise gets around her house just fine, she's sharp as a tack, loves her evening cocktail(s) and looks to Tanner only as her driver.

Soon Tanner begins to notice a few strange things about Louise, concerning things, perhaps even dangerous things. When Louise comes into Tanner's room carrying a suitcase in the wee hours of the morning with news of an immediate road trip, she can't just let Louise leave on her own, can she? She's her driver, after all...

I love this feisty octogenarian and her twenty-something companion-accomplice as the two main characters in this fun and fast paced story. Tanner and Louise couldn't possibly be any further apart in similarities than their huge age difference, yet listening to their banter the longer they're on the road together you begin to realize there's something very special happening here.

Traveling with Tanner and Louise on their road trip is entertaining but there's so much more to this story that's best discovered as you read along and I suggest going in without knowing too much beforehand.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is full of great characters, twists here and there, and a bit of a tearjerker in the final chapter. Should it be taken seriously? Perhaps not, but there are great topics and who doesn't love a feisty octogenarian, right?

I love Colleen Oakley's book The Invisible Husband of Frick Island and The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is right there with it. I highly recommend with 4 Solid Stars!

Thank you to Shelf Awareness, Berkley, and Colleen Oakley for an ARC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

LOVED!!! Colleen’s writing is awesome. This story is great. Full of humor and heartfelt emotions, I enjoyed it so much. All the characters were great.