This book is a laugh out loud, need a box of tissues, suspenseful, jaw dropping roller coaster of a ride! When Tanner and Louise are thrown together by circumstances out of their control, they are forced to learn how to live with each other. Neither likes the arrangement and neither can truly tolerate the other. As Tanner broods about the path her life has taken, Louise quietly goes about her days. Through observation and a wild imagination, Tanner believes that Louise has a secret. One hasty decision in the middle of the night throws the unsuspecting pair into a wild ride. The ride unveils the depths people will go for each other. The journey reveals the value of friendship, forgiveness, and love. Oakley writes characters that are multifaceted and have great banter with each other. This isn't just an amazingly enjoyable, fast paced read. It is one that has unforgettable characters and a wonderful story. Not to mention a fantastic twist!

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise tells the story of a twenty year old and an eighty year old on a road trip. Louise is wanted by FBI for an alleged crime committed forty-eight years ago. She and her caregiver, Tanner, whose soccer career at Northwestern was disrupted by a freak fall from a balcony head off in a green Jaguar, hoping to escape the police. Tanner is trying to figure out her life and Louise is trying to tie up the loose ends of her own life. The women drive from Atlanta to Redding, California where Louise meets up with her old partner in crime. The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise is a fun read. Book discussion groups may want to pair it with The Widows" Adventures by Charles Dickenson (1989), an excellent road trip novel

Thank you @berkleypub for the free book and @prhaudio for the audio version as well. My thoughts are my own.
#penguinrandomhousepartner
This is one of the most amusing books I have read this year. When Tanner, a college drop-out, is hired to live with a reluctant 84-year-old Louise, Tanner is not at all motivated to do more than drive Louise to her appointments and then play video games all afternoon. Louise prefers to remain independent and does things in her own way. Soon, a couple of strange events lead Tanner to do some investigating and she is amazed at what she finds out, and before she knows it, she is caught up in a wild adventure!
This story is fast-paced and humorous. At first, I wasn’t sure about either main character but I ended up really liking both of them. The story alternates between the third person perspectives of both Louise and Tanner. There are also occasional (humorous) text conversations between Louise’s three adult children as well as conversations between the police or FBI. Everything resolves itself nicely in the end.
Hillary Huber does a fantastic job with the audio as she alternates from an older sounding voice to a younger voice and the other various male and female characters.
Read this if you enjoy:
*humorous stories
*women’s fiction
*fast-paced action
*likable characters

Thank you @berittalksbooks for organizing such a fun read!

I think this is Colleen Oakley's best book yet! This road trip adventure includes a cast of quirky and lovable characters, with several little "twists" and "surprises" for the reader. Tanner and Louise's story will make you wonder just how well you know your elderly relatives! ;) It's a very sweet and fast-paced novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Highly recommend.

Tanner is a college-aged student who lost her scholarship and her future dreams with one accident. She is floating driftless through life until her parents decide to take the tough love route and kick her out.

Louise is a blunt octogenarian who is no longer as independent as she once was. Her daughter connects her to Tanner to help her out around the house.

When Louise appears in Tanner's room in the middle of the night saying they need to leave immediately and are on the run from the cops Tanner has a decision to make. Should she continue her blah day to day or take the adventure (with the out Louise kidnapped her of course)

I always find myself drawn to these unlikely friendships and the adventures they get into and the lessons they teach each other. Tanner and Louise fit the bill perfectly for me with the added bonus of a little mystery with a dual-timeline revelation of what was really hiding in Louise's past.

This book is a joy! Great combination of mystery, found family and road trip story. I loved the intergenerational relationship between Tanner and Louise. Both characters were well-crafted and the relationship between them was funny, emotional, and heartwarming. The interspersed conversations amongst Louise's children as they wondered what happened to their mother were hilarious and added much enjoyment to the story. Five huge stars!

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!