A lighthearted, charming story of two very different people who do not like each other and believe they have nothing in common only to find out how alike they are.

Louise is an 84-year-old widow recovering from a broken hip. Her children want her to have some live in help, which she resists for as long as possible. Tanner is a 21-year-old college soccer star who has lost her scholarship after a leg injury and needs to get out of her house. Reluctantly, the two agree to live together, each on their own terms. Suddenly, things take a turn and the next thing you know, the two are on a road trip, they may be on the run from the police and Louise may be a jewel thief. Louise and Tanner must learn to work together and as they do learn about and from each other.

Excellent character development, good pacing and a storyline that keeps you engaged. This is a fast, fun and enjoyable read.

Octogenarians in fiction are trending and I'm here for it! 

Tanner, 21 is the driver for Louise, 84, who is on the run in THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER AND LOUISE (PUB 03.28). (

This cross-country adventure was fun and fabulous. So fun. Watching the relationship bloom from this unlikely pair was a trip. The story is full of charm and wit with a hefty dose of the unexpected. The underlying mystery unfolds with satisfying surprises that kept me turning the pages with gusto. Take all of that and add superb writing with outstanding character development and you have a standout read. 
I also appreciated the undertones of women-supporting-women that was evident throughout. It felt authentic and

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
Delightful characters and their chase across the country. Light read on the surface. But complex relationships beneath the surface. Joy abounds.

this was a very cute story and I enjoyed the eccentricity of the characters, would read future books of hers

Thank you Berkley for The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise. What a fun read that captured for me the love for a good road trip self exploration life is messy vibe that I wanted just based on the cover alone. The standout is the author's understanding that indeed a struggling young person and an aging person can have a lot in common, can learn from each other, and can have one big adventure. I love that this book allowed each character to be vibrant, complex, and maybe a little fun.

I love that the writing and the plot was about Louise being lively, thriving, and with a whole set of stories waiting to be uncovered. I appreciated the story for for capturing a young adult who probably has life more figured out than she knows (adulthood is about faking it a lot after all). Together this is why I love teaching about aging to college students... young people need to learn that aging isn't scary and is still a time of so much life to live and they also need to learn that adults don't have it all figured out...

If you watched Thelma and Louise in your formative years (heck yes) and have yearned for that kind of story once more.. here it is. Thank you to Colleen Oakley for writing it.

What an absolute joy! As I started to read about Tanner and Louise’s unlikely friendship, I thought it would be an inspirational, lighthearted story about them learning more about themselves. While that did happen, there were also lots of surprises thrown in along the way (mobsters! Mistaken identity! Incompetent government officials!) which made the book fly by. Absolutely recommend to any fans of Thursday Murder Club, or Driving Miss Norma.

Oh my gosh, where do I even begin? I rarely read a book in 2 days. I couldn’t put this one down. Will definitely have a book hangover from this one. The characters were lovable and quirky. A Modern Day Thelma and Louise with a young girl being forced to be a caregiver of an elderly lady that has a lot of secrets to keep and a road trip from Atlanta to California. If someone doesn’t pick this up to make a movie-they are missing the boat!

I always put Colleen Oakley's books on my TBR because while not favorites, I've always enjoyed them.

In The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, we have a very unlikely duo with Tanner, a college-aged female who is in a current life transition, and Louise, an 84 year old woman recovering from a hip injury that needs a live in caretaker to get her kids off her case.

Louise isn't what she seems though and has a secret life that she fears is coming to light. Tanner gets dragged into her chaos and a very unlikely series of events occur.

Fun but a little over the top ridiculous at times.

Loved this book Tanner and Louise are quite the duo.Perfect for bookclub discussions,I will be recommending this book to friends.#netgalley #berkleybooks

4.5 Mostly Truly Loved Stars
* * * * 1/2 Spoiler Free
Oh, this was special. This had an air about it, causing me to pay attention, enjoy the difficult, and know I would know some things but not all until I was supposed to.

It is not easy to write a book focused on characters that you may not like or feel as if they are "your people" from the start. Likeability is usually key for most books, but I will say, these characters grow on you and before you know it, you are shoulder-to-shoulder cheering them on.

I think as women, we all have had some of the feelings expressed here and Collen Oakley uses her crafting to give a sly, engaging book and I am all for it.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley Quickly step-thumped through this delightful and entertraining story. Tanner and Louise were a perfect odd pairing and extremely likeable. The back and forth timelines were very well done. A fun read with many laugh out loud moments.....homophones (that was a good one).
Thank you to Ms Oakley, Berkley Publishing, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This book was exactly what I needed. A sweet story about a young woman and an older woman. One beginning her life and the other one at the end of her life. They seem like they would have nothing in common, and yet they are so similar.

Colleen Oakley really knows how to tell a story. There are no holes in the plot, and each character's story is told with the right amount of detail.

I really grew to love Tanner and Mrs. Wilt and the story had me on the edge of my seat until the very last page.

I will recommend this book to all who love a great story!

I enjoyed The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, it is a quick, light, satisfying read and would be a great vacation book.
The characters were well rounded and I was mostly on their side. By the time the book was wrapping up it’s twists and turns, I felt that some of the story lines could have been addressed earlier and filled out a little more satisfactorily, but I would still recommend the book as I don’t think harms the readers enjoyment of the book.

What a fun, quirky read. I loved the unlikely adventure of this octogenarian and a young twenty-something. As Tanner struggles to pick up the pieces of her life she is forced to help Louise by driving her to and from her appointments. In any other situation, this would have been a disaster but when an unexpected journey needs to take place, their connection develops.

I really enjoyed the plot, the banter between the characters, as well as seeing the texts from concerning family members thrown in. I can definitely see this being made into a tv show or movie.

THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER AND LOUISE by Colleen Oakley

📆Pub date: March 28, 2023
➡️Swipe for synopsis
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read if you like:
💨Fast paced books
📖Feel good stories
🚙Road trips

Thank you so much to @berkleypub and @netgalley for the digital ARC of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise!

This book was sooo cute, fun, and wholesome while having a little mystery thrown in. Louise and her unwilling caretaker, Tanner, are on the run from something and end up taking a road trip cross-country. Of course there is chaos and beautiful moments along the way. In case you didn’t read the synopsis, Louise is an 80-something year old woman and Tanner is a 20-something college student🥰 I loved how Louise slowly opened up and grew to love and appreciate Tanner’s friendship, these characters were just perfect!

I recommend this book if you need a wholesome, fun, and fast-paced book!

On Tanner Quimby’s most ambitious days, she might take off her stained sweatpants and leave her video games long enough to take a shower. So, the idea that now she has to find a job and a new place to live seems like simply too much, but she accepts the job with the cranky 84-year-old Louise because she doesn’t have better options.

Louise doesn’t need this lazy girl, except since she broke her hip, she can’t drive herself around. Grudgingly she accepts Tanner as her chauffer—certainly not her nurse.

When Tanner sees an age-progressed photograph on the news of the suspect in a major jewelry heist decades earlier that looks suspiciously like Louise, Tanner looks questioningly at the tightly locked shed in the back. Then, late that night, Louise wakes Tanner up demanding that she drive her across the country.

This novel is a lot of fun, with the eventual friendship of the two women changing them both.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES MARCH 28, 2023.

Tanner busted her leg, lost her scholarship, and is hiding out in her parent's basement playing video games, not really caring if she's showered or changed her clothes in the past week. Direction? She has none.

Louise tells people she's 79, but she's really 84. Sharp as a tack, but after a fall, she's using a cane and can't drive. Her daughter says she needs help.... Tanner's mom said she needs to find a place to live. Match made in heaven? Nope, but they are stuck with each other.

Tanner drives slowly and Louise has no time to waste. While Tanner dwells on her lack of a future, Louise finds her past is catching up with her, but it's not the past you'd imagine for a little old lady. Suddenly, she's waking Tanner up in the middle of the night and they're busting out, heading out on a road trip to save someone named George. There's no place like the road to get to know another person and the generation gap gets smaller as Tanner and Louise share their story and tackle the journey together. The twists, the turns, the advice on life - this is the perfect book club read. No one is ever who they seem and who you are meant to be can change.

Louise [84 yrs old] and Tanner [21 yrs old] embark on drive from Atlanta to Calif. to save George who is danger from Salvatore, soon to be released killer from prison. Tanner thinks Louise is a jewel thief, and the police are after Louise. Tanner is strict rule follower. Louise just wants to protect her friend George whom she hasn't seen in 48 years. There are several unexpected twists to this tale--people aren't who they say they are.
Read to solve the mystery of this 48 year old jewel thief case, if you can do it faster than the FBI.

A solid 4 stars. Started slow and clunky and ended the same way, but the middle section was hilarious. The banter between Louise and Tanner was the best part. A fun, wild ride.

Woman on the lam, FBI on the hunt, flashbacks and plot twists...This was a grand romp-. multigenerational adventure.