This week on The Running Wine Mom, Samantha sits down with New York Times bestselling author Annabel Monaghan for an honest conversation about motherhood, caregiving, burnout, love, and the invisible mental load women carry every single day.

Annabel shares the inspiration behind her newest novel, Dolly All the Time — a story about a single mom juggling work, family, financial stress, and caregiving while slowly learning how to stop carrying everything alone. Samantha and Annabel dive into the “curse of capability,” why moms struggle to ask for help, and how women often become the emotional managers of their entire families.

They also talk about:

• Why romance shouldn’t magically fix a woman’s life
• Fake dating, family pressure, and financial stress in fiction
• The emotional reality of caregiving
• Raising capable kids instead of over-functioning for them
• The mental load moms carry every day
• Why women relate so deeply to Dolly’s story
• The famous “pants” mantra from the book
• Writing chemistry and emotional intimacy
• Rhode Island as the perfect summer-book setting

If you’ve ever felt like the default parent, the family planner, the emergency contact, or the one holding everything together — this episode will hit home.

Follow Annabel

• Website: annabelmonaghan.com
• Instagram: @annabelmonaghan

Follow Samantha

• Instagram: @therunningwinemom_

Books Mentioned

• Dolly All the Time
• Nora Goes Off Script
• Summer Romance