Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Oliver
SERIES: Whitedell Pride #6
AUTHOR: Catherine Lievens
PUBLISHER: Extasy Books
LENGTH: 120 Pages
BLURB:
What matters is not what you are, but who you are.
Oliver is human, or at least he was until the Glass Research Company kidnapped him and experimented on him. Now he has a bear sharing his mind, but he’s not able to shift, and he’s confused. Is he a shifter, or a human? What’s worse, he’s getting sicker every day, and no one seems to know how to help him. He can’t even bond with his mate because he doesn’t want Sebastian to hurt if something happens to him.
Sebastian wants his mate to be cured, and the only way to do that is to go to New York and kidnap one of the company’s scientist. With the help of his pride brothers, he manages to do just that, but having Oliver cured doesn’t mean all their problems are over.
Oliver will have to deal with learning how to shift and trying to convince Sebastian that he’s fine and that he can be claimed, but once he manages to do that, other problems arise. Will the two lovers finally have the time to just be together, or will the pressure push them apart?
REVIEW:
We were first introduced to Oliver and Sebastian way back in book number one of the Whitedell Pride series. Sebastian was friends with one of the MCs from that book and Oliver was discovered by the other MC, Jamie, locked in a cage being experimented on. When Jamie escaped he took two friends with him, one of those was Oliver. Which was how Oliver found himself living amongst the feline shifters of the Whitedell pride. That was six months ago and since then Oliver has been slowly deteriorating to the point that he, and the bear trapped inside of him, will likely die within the week. Although he’s been at the mansion for six months, he spent the majority of that time locked away in his room and so has only just discovered that Sebastian is his mate. But no matter how much he wants his mate, he refuses to allow Sebastian to claim him if he can’t be saved. He hopes that if he dies unclaimed it might save Sebastian from the pain of losing a mate. So for the first part of the story, we have one of the mates refusing to, well, mate with the other. What’s new right! These are some stubborn-ass shifters in this series.
Series wise, this book swings us back towards the scientists and the labs as the pride scrambles to find a cure for Oliver and we are introduced to a couple more shifter groups including another pride of lions and also some elks. Joshua, one of the series’ regulars discovers that one of the “not so evil” scientists is his mate and does not react well at all! That sounds like it’ll make for an interesting story. But the most important news? My Keenan has met his mate! Whether Jonah is good enough for him remains to be seen, can’t say I’m impressed so far.
So, the usual warning, do not attempt these books as standalones. You really do need to read the whole series in the correct order, which I have done, and honestly, I’ve kind of reached the point where I think I need to start from the beginning and draw up some sort of pride family tree as I go. I’m not complaining. I’ve said it before, I love series that are as deeply entwined as this one is. Pretty much all of the characters pop up in all of the books, but my, now that we are at book number six, and with no end in sight, the cast is getting so very large.
The next book in the series will be out on the first of April (Catherine Lievens is unfailingly prolific) and is entitled Ani. That’s right you Whitedell Pride fans, Alpha Dominic will finally manage to land his Nix mate.
RATING: 
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