Afraid to Let Grow

Annette Nauraine brings readers an emotional, funny, and heartfelt story that explores a mother's fears as she struggles to let her children go while facing her own fear of falling in love.

Olivia Maxwell is afraid of everything, including kittens. Determined to be a good mom, she does whatever it takes to keep her children safe. Eighteen years ago, her husband died, so she knows life can go up in smoke if you're not careful.

As a result, she's tried to anticipate every imaginable risk, warning her children about the dangers of food past its due date, kidnapping, bubonic plague, and planes crashing into the house.

Despite her pleas, her son drops out of college for a career guaranteed to put him in danger. Struggling to be allowed to grow, he pushes against all of Olivia's boundaries, even insisting his older sister, who has Down, should be allowed to experience love.

Can Olivia conquer her fears and let her children grow? Or is her reluctance to let them go about protecting them or herself? When an interfering fireman sets Olivia's menopausal desires aflame, will she risk falling in love?

Olivia's friends in the Marriage Survivors Club remind her that living a full life means embracing love and letting go. After all, it's never too late to grow.