We Never Asked for Wings

Vanessa Diffenbaugh's first novel was the Language of Flowers, which I absolutely loved. I'm pleased to report that her second novel, We Never Asked for Wings, is as good as her first!

When we first meet Letty, she is driving frantically to Mexico to find her mother, Maria Elena. Maria Alena has gone to Mexico to find her husband and Letty's father, Enrique. Letty is lost without her parents. For fourteen years, Letty, who is a single mother, has worked as a bartender to pay her bills and provide for her children, Alex, fifteen, and Luna, six. Maria Elena has raised Alex and Luna. Letty doesn't know how to be in a room with her children, let alone raise them.

But all of that is about to change - quickly. Enrique has decided to stay in the Espinosa family home in Oro de Hidalgo, Mexico, and he wants Maria Elena to stay with him. Letty cannot persuade Maria Elena to return with her.

Letty gets into a car accident on the way home and her reunion with her children is awkward and stilted. Bit by bit, day by day, they learn to trust and love each other. Letty starts dating her coworker, Rick, and then Alex's father, Wes, comes back into her life and Alex's life. Letty has to make a decision about who to let into her life and her children's lives. Alex makes a disastrous decision for his girlfriend, Yesenia, and they both have to find a way out of the consequences. But through it all, love helps relationships heal, last, and triumph!