Lenora: His Omega Mate

Wolves Of West Texas #2

by Chencia C. Higgins

As the twin of the future alpha, Lenora was born to be the omega of her pack. It was her birthright and duty to keep the emotional balance in the Hurst pack, and it was a duty she embraced with open arms. However, ensuring everyone else's happiness began to drain her spirit and make her long for a mate to call her own; someone who could help her decompress the way she did for others. After her brother finally accepted his position as alpha and chose his mate, she wasted no time in her quest to follow suit. Since the wolf she preferred was determined to remain unattached, the hunt was on for someone who would give her everything she had been yearning for and quell the aching loneliness of her wolf.

Adrian has been second-in-command to his best friend since the two of them were in diapers; long before either of them were known as beta or alpha of alphas. He has also been in love with his best friend's twin sister for just as long. Although he won't disrespect his alpha by pursuing the pack omega, watching his Nora search for a mate is slowly driving him insane. Bound by teachings of those considered more wiser than he, his fight to remain unaffected becomes increasingly difficult. Suddenly, the reasons sitting between them seem less like duty and more like torture, and before long Adrian has to decide what's more important: loyalty or love.

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Shapeshifters, Romance, African American Romance, Audiobook, Novella, Werewolves

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2019

About the author

Chencia C. Higgins is just a girl from Texas who has made it her mission to create stories in which sassy, southern Black women are loved out loud. Her Carina Adores debut, D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding, was a New York Times best romance of 2022. When she isn't hunkered down in her writing cave, Chencia can be found with her nose in a book, saving recipes on Pinterest for things she’ll never make, and dreaming about travelling even further south for the winter.

Reviews

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one frustrated me to no end. I found myself really starting to hate Adriana and all that he put Lenny through. It was plan cruel and shedeserved better. Sure he came to his senses at the end, but for me, it was too little too late.

[Chencia Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read it quite a few times and would definitely read it again.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Unfortunately not quite as good as the first book but still a cute and enjoyable ride!

[Ashley Yungbluth · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Lenora: His Omega Mate" is the second book in the "Wolves of West Texas" series by Chencia C. Higgins. I loved Lenora's story and how she was an omega. Lenora has been wanting to be with her mate since she was 17, and her mate keeps putting her off. Adrian is part of the same pack, and you can tell he loves Lenora, but he doesn't want to mess with the Omega of the pack. My favorite scene was when Adrian was talking with Lenora's brother, Langston, and what he was saying finally made sense to him. I also liked the scene at the Diner. Honestly, I really liked this book and felt Chencia has done a wonderful job with this wolf pack. The book is short enough to be read quickly and easily. It also ends with you wanting more.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book the moment that I finished the first book. I really enjoy this pack. Lenora is introduced in the first book. She is the alpha's sister. She knows she wants Adrian for her mate. Adrian is the second-in-command. Although he is interested in Lenora, he has trouble getting past advice his father gave him.

I would recommend reading the books in order. The first book does give a sneak peak at their relationship.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this, I told a friend Adrian was my wolfnip and I stand by it. A hero puts duty before love and is tortured by it! Adrian’s dad told him that a good beta should never get married because a mate would only be a distraction and he’s held fast to this…despite evidence to the contrary. The plot really only concerns itself with how long it’s going to take for Adrian to wise up. Without more external conflict to keep things moving, it dragged in places.. I wish Lenny had stuck it to him more because he didn’t quite string her along but he didn’t cut ties either and that felt cruel. But I did love their grumpy-sunshine pairing and the way he’d been such a steadfast presence all her life, even if he didn’t want to admit he was in love with her.

There’s an odd woldbuilding misstep in this series. In the first book, we know Lenny and Langston’s dad died a year ago. But in this book we learn that he was declared dead after he went missing for a year. This seems like extremely pertinent information that should have been disclosed in the first book, especially because of the way Langston’s grief affected him. This installment doesn’t get into Lenny’s grief as much but I was really struck by the reveal.

There were two things that didn’t sit well with me. First, Cassius asks Lenny why she’s single. This is something I absolutely HATE. It’s incredibly rude, first of all, but it also implies that there’s a concrete reason for someone to be single as well as that being single is bad. There is no good reason for anyone to ever ask this question and especially not on a date. Second, some character’s reactions to Adrian not wanting a mate and some of the inherent worldbuilding felt on the acephobic side. I could absolutely be wrong on this! I’m not ace and I’m still figuring out what acephobia looks like on page. But it’s not hard to believe that a fated mates book could be acephobic either. In this world, not only does everyone have a hard time believing anyone would want to be single or uninterested in sex/mating, the only way to be the best wolf/self you can possibly be is to find your mate. It explicitly says this. An unmated wolf can’t achieve the same things a mated wolf can. I did not like that at all. Romantic love does not fix and heal everything! There are plenty of people who never marry and they are still perfectly amazing! The specific inclusion of these lines and reactions felt unnecessary.

Character notes: Lenny is a 28 year old Black omega and works at the Welcome Center’s career branch. Adrian is a 31 year old Black beta and farmer and absolute grump. This is set in Madow, TX.

CW: heroine’s father was missing for a year before he was declared dead last year, smoking pipe, gendered insult, gender essentialist language, ableist language, reference to ancestor who was raped by her enslaver

[Monique D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with the Hurst pack in Book 1 and when I found out there was going to be a Book 2 I was beside myself! My dear sista author has made me fall in love with a smoke-eyed wolf!!! I simply could not get enough of Adrian and his surly self. I'm going to have to go back and add him to my 2019 Book Bae list!!!

The say the heart wants what the heart wants and Lenny always knew who her mate was but Adrian was playing around entirely too much and got on everybody's nerves. LOL. All jokes aside, all the angst these two put themselves through was unbelievably heartwarming. I'm glad they finally figured it out!

This time around the supporting characters all added to the mix in attempting to get these two wolves acting right. They added comedic relief as well as sage advice to both Adrian and Lenny. There was even a country boy wolf that showed up that I would be interested in hearing more from......

I'm even more excited because I smell another story coming from this pack!

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great novella with two fated mates and friends, both pining for one another but separate due to some misguided sense of duty. I think this being a novella was perfect for this story, because any longer and I would have wanted to knock Adrian upside the head. As it was, it all flowed perfectly and I’m glad they finally got their HEA.

One thing that did bother me in the beginning was the way Lenny manipulated Alicia’s emotions when she was upset about Langston and Janine’s mating. This was a brief part of the story and Lenny’s intentions were good, but it felt like she was non consensually manipulating emotions and that didn’t feel good. Normally, she just sticks to sending out good vibes so this isn’t the norm and was just setting up the next book, but it still made me side eye a bit.

Otherwise this was great and I’m really enjoying the series.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

I loved this book! I do wish there had been at least one more chapter at the end, but I love Lenora so much and the friendship between her and Janine is wonderful. And Cassius! I hope he and Justice will have a book~ Love this series so much! And a wonderful apology from Adrian, though like I said I wish there was at least a little more to the end to solidify the HEA feeling.

[Shelita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

I liked the first story more but that could be because of the danger Janine was in from her idiotic old pack. No danger here except for Adrian being an idiot & not discussing it with anyone. We meet a few more wolves and I hope they get their own stories as well. Overall good abs I want to read what happens next for the pack.

[Marshall Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew Chile 😉

Adrian took me through some things! I wanted to slap some sense into him but patience is a virtue! Lol 😂 Lenora finally has reached a milestone in her life! This story was a great journey to finding peace in love! What a wonderful feeling! I hope 🤞🏾 this is not the end Chencia!

[Michele Hallahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm hooked.

I'm so glad that Lenny finally got her mate. It's sad that they both took so long to figure out what was keeping them apart. Adrian might have been guided by a little jealousy, compliments of a sexy northern neighbor, but it lit the fire they both needed. I'll be waiting to see which Madow wolf finds their mate next.

[Weekend Reader_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

🐺

Finally Adrian gets his act together but boy did it take convincing. I think this entry is a good example of how sometimes people's experience with relationships clouds their ability to give sound advice. Thankfully this knucklehead was surrounded by people who cared about his well-being and said knock it off.

CN: grief, death of a parent

[Lynette · Rating 2 out of 5]

What?

That ending was…….I don’t even have the words. It zipped right by. There was no closure at all. Lenny said it best…it was too easy. I was excited for this 2nd book in the series but the ending kinda ruined it for me. Still love the author though.

[London · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of fun was had here and while I can say with some degree of confidence that I liked the first book more and I got frustrated with the MMC a lot, I enjoyed this and it was a good step to Breaking my slump.

[Nicosia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and cuddly

I have this thing for paranormals and romance... this book just makes me wish this was a while never ending movie series already 😩🥰

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great continuation of the series. I enjoyed seeing Lenora and Adrian figure it out, but also had quite a few moments where I was like "JUST TALK!"

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape mentioned
Smoking
Dearth of a father recounted

[Kimberlli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. Fun and fast paced.

[Kesha Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding read

I really enjoyed Janine, but I LOVED Lenora for some reason. What a great series! I'm looking forward to reading the next one! Highly recommend.