Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: To Be Loved
SERIES: Sequel to To Be Human
AUTHOR: Pearl Love
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 280 Pages
BLURB:
Tim—designation TM 05637—thought he’d escaped his fate as a genetically engineered supersoldier when David Conley offered him a precious chance at a normal life. But General Woodard, Tim’s handler, captures them, crushing Tim’s short-lived dream. Thrilled at the return of his pet killing machine, Woodard plans to break Tim’s resistance by forcing him to virtually kill David.
Fortunately, Dr. Paul Anderson, the scientist who created Tim, offers them a chance at freedom. But a deadly weakness implanted in Tim’s DNA threatens his life. Without regular doses of a special medication, Tim faces debilitation and even death. In search of a more permanent solution, Dr. Anderson enlists David’s help to infiltrate a base where a cure is kept. But David is unable to fully trust Tim, haunted by seeing Tim killing him in Woodard’s brutal training simulations.
Desperate to protect David, both from the general—and himself—Tim struggles to find the strength to leave the man he loves while completing the mission. With Dr. Anderson’s help, Tim and David try to stay a step ahead of the general, knowing they must reach the cure before mistrust tears them apart, Woodard catches up with them, or the clock runs out on Tim’s life.
REVIEW:
I may have squeed just a little bit when this book landed in my in-box. I fell crazy in love with the first story of this series, which ended with a great big nasty cliffhanger and a little tease of this next book. Maybe I should have resented being hooked so thoroughly into reading this book, but that also means the story was bloody awesome, right?! You can find my review of To be Human here. Please be aware that if you read further through this review there are some spoilers for the first book.
This second story begins with Tim back in captivity under the authority of the evil General Woodard. But this time he’s not alone. While Woodard and his scientists work to reprogram Tim, David and Dr. Anderson (oh, yes – he’s still alive!) are also locked up and at the mercy of the psychopathic general. In an effort to regain control of Tim, Woodard has him complete training simulations where the objective is to kill David over and over again. Which, of course, David gets to watch. Once the three men manage to escape the compound the countdown to Tim’s death begins unless they can find him the miracle cure he needs to over-ride his built in off switch. Thanks to Dr. Anderson they know exactly where they can find it, trouble is, Woodard also knows where the men will be heading, and that they have no choice but to walk into his trap.
If I had to categorize this story I wouldn’t call it a romance, even though the underlying theme is love. Much of the book is spent with the main characters on the run and I’d probably call it an action story if I had to choose a label. There’s definitely a lot more violence and death when compared to the first book.
More than that, Tim and David go back to their awkward standoffish behavior and what I imagined would be a heartfelt reunion instead turned out to be a little uncomfortable to watch. Not that their behavior wasn’t justified. Again, this author does an excellent job of knowing her characters and having them behave in ways that make perfect sense. Even if I don’t like it. When Tim has the opportunity to kill Woodard and he doesn’t do it, I was rolling my eyes and cursing. Because, seriously! Everyone knows that if you have the killer down and wounded you finish the bastard off cause he’ll come back for you. At first I was annoyed, thinking, what a complete idiot! But no. The most important thing to Tim is proving that he’s more than the killer he was bred to be, and the author knew that. And she got it right. The characters were all very true to who they were, right down to Tim starting to make mistakes as he became more “human”.
Having said that though, when David is threatened Tim does not hold back his super soldier-ness and I actually really loved that part. That violent, bloody showdown at the end, when David finally channeled his inner Steven Seagal and helped his man eliminate the threat to their Happily-Ever-After. Because honestly bad guys, you don’t mess with a super soldier’s boyfriend and expect that there won’t be consequences.
This book ends the same way the first book started, with Dr. Anderson telling Tim that he loves him. But this time, instead of TM 05637 asking what that means, Tim can say it back, and understand perfectly the meaning behind the words.
The story is definitely a sequel. Don’t attempt to launch into this mid-series because while you may make sense of what’s going on, it won’t mean as much to you. As far as I’m aware the series is only the two books, I don’t see where the author could take it further, but hey, if I’m wrong I’ll be more than happy to keep reading.
RATING: 
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