A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole was one of those novels that I hated for it to end. This is the story of Marlie Lynch who aided Union prisoners, fleeing slaves, and Freemen. She was a healer who learned her slave mother’s traditions. She was also the daughter of a white father that she never knew protected her even though she spied for the Union.

When the Confederate Home Guard takes over her home as their new base, the danger to her increases. Unbeknownst to the Confederate Home Guard, she is aiding an escaped prisoner in her laboratory. They have to run for their lives in the Carolina woods. Following the path of the Underground Railroad, they are caught in a battle that could dim their hopes of ever crossing state lines.

I loved this book. Perhaps the theme of interracial romance at that time in history made this novel riveting. I would recommend another of this author’s books, An Extraordinary Union, which is written in the same vein as this reviewed book.

I'm interested in seeing Black people thriving throughout history but this book just wasn't it. I really tried but could not get into. I'm not sure which audience I would recommend this to or who would benefit from reading it. I have enjoyed this author's more contemporary works so it may just be this setting, time period, and allegiances that turned me off?

Author Alyssa Cole sets her Historical Romance during the Civil War . The year is 1863 and this intriguing story starts in North Carolina where the hero, Ewan McCall, is in prison for his opposition against the Confederacy. However, unlike the men there, Ewan is not a regular prisoner, but a philosophy reading, French translating interrogator for the Union cause. He is indeed a complex individual living during complex times. His counterpoint and heroine of this story is Marlie Lynch, a woman of color, who during this divided period in US history, not only lives freely at Lynchwood, the home of her white father, but also actively works as a member of the Loyal League,” a group of Negroes and others dedicated to helping preserve the Union”. In addition to being a spy, Marli is also gifted as a healer. She learned the healing benefits of medicinal herbs from her mother, Vivienne who sent her to Lynchwood to have a “better” life. Marli’s relationship with her father’s side of the family is complicated and a reflection of this period in history.
A HOPE DIVIDED is an impressive, well-written novel that successfully blends historical facts, romance, intrigue and unforgettable characters. I highly recommend it because not only is it an entertaining story, but it also has great educational value. Get the book; you can thank me later.

Alyssa Cole's Loyal League series is a must read and a must have for library historical romance collections. Would also make a wonderful book club pick.

Alyssa Cole is one of my absolute favorite writers and A Hope Divided is a beautiful and heartbreaking book. It's such an important story and I think everyone should read it. Marlie and Ewan have to fight through so much for their Happily Ever After.

This was a great follow up - I love that Cole grapples both the politics of the time, while providing a compelling story line in both romance and historical fiction genres.

I didn't realize that this was part of a series and is book two. I have looked at the other books in the series and am going to pass on reading this one. Thank you for the opportunity.

I dont normally like historical romance, but I tried a few alyssa cole books, including her ir ones, and this one was surprisingly good.

Eeeep, I really enjoyed this one!! Loved the story and the characters and the romance was sweet! Will definitely recommend!

This story is another amazing book in The Loyal League. The American Civil War has always been fascinating for me and I grew up watching Gone With the Wind and Jezebel. But I never felt any sympathy for the Southern Belles and I wanted more realistic stories. Alyssa's stories are about characters fighting back within their communities and in ways that feel real and true for those historical times. And the romances are lovely, realistic and nuanced. I hope to read more in this series.

Loved it and highly recommend to those who enjoy romance, interracial love and books about Civil War/ Slavery.

This is the second historical romance I've read by Alyssa Cole, and she truly has a gift for writing empowered women who play the heroines, not the damsels. Her male love interests are also compelling, and the romances mesh well with excellent chemistry. Both the romances and the plots are compelling.

A HOPE DIVIDED by Alyssa Cole radiates intelligence, human frailties and endurance in a tightly woven package of realistic historical adventure and love.

Marlie Lynch didn’t learn about her family history from her mother, a freed slave and healer, until Marlie’s white half-sister Sarah shows up at their doorstep. Marlie’s mother, Vivienne, teaches her everything she knows about healing during their years together. It’s Marlie’s turn to benefit from what is her due, now that her slave-owner father has passed on. Half-sister Sarah takes Marlie home with her to profit from what a white family can provide. This is what Vivienne wants, more for her daughter than she can give her. But will the trials of a civil war end all their dreams of a bright future?

Ewan McCall has served the Union by being the worst human that war can invent. He is not ashamed of what he has done for his country, nor the freedom they’re earning for those enslaved. He meets Marlie at the prison where he resides when she provides healing and a book cart for the prisoners. The very same books are where they hide letters going out to the prisoners’ families. Sarah and Marlie are in deeper than the prison officials know, but Ewan hazards a guess and makes good on his knowledge when he escapes.

Ewan comes off as crazy as crazy gets in the beginning of this novel. I was so curious about how the author would redeem him. He’s a scary man in relation to what he’s done for their cause, but Marlie brings out the compassionate human beneath his war-torn heart. To say that Ewan is creepy and mysterious is spot on. Marlie is sweetness and light. Putting the two together is brilliant. It’s like how music soothes the savage beast. Marlie is the calm for Ewan. And for those who look for this character trait, Ewan is a redhead.

As a fan of thrillers, I was intrigued that this book reads very much like that style of story. There are bits of Ewan’s background that easily sent chills up my spine. Marlie is such a sad character because she was separated from her mother and the only life she knew, then placed with a white family she doesn’t know in a world of turmoil. I understand her mother’s reasoning, but Marlie has “the sight,” and the girl had to be terrified when the exchange took place. The fact that she retained that sweetness and light that Ewan sees is a miracle.

I found Marlie’s healer details fascinating. Marlie considers herself a scientist, and her distillation process was a surprise. I’ve read many books about healers, have studied plants for more years than I care to admit, and this is the first story I’ve read with this wonderful descriptive element. If you’re an herbalist by passion, whether you use plants medicinally or for flavor, you’ll really appreciate this story. I must reread this book again, if only for that joy it gives the herbalist and historian inside me.

The big caveat? Sweet, unassuming Marlie, the wannabe scientist and woman of color, who is extremely smart, is a decoder for the Loyal League and part of the Underground Railroad with Sarah. All these influences put together make Marlie one of the most unusual and fascinating heroines I’ve had the pleasure of reading about. She may not be as dominant as Elle from AN EXTRAORDINARY UNION, book one of THE LOYAL LEAGUE series, but Marlie is formidable for using her mind that’s sharp enough to attract Ewan. I loved their method of book discussion through notes passed in the books Ewan borrows from the book cart while in prison. The fact that Ewan is such a philosopher was equally entertaining.

When her white half-brother shows up with his very southern belle of a wife, Marlie experiences the same terror she had when she was torn from her mother’s home. Her life of equality at her southern home is no longer viable. She’s just like any other slave in the eyes of Melody Lynch. All the former slaves in this household are freed and paid a wage for their service. How can any of them withstand life with the insufferable, spoiled brat who has decided she’s the lady of the manor?

This is just the beginning of the first three chapters. What comes next is both expected and unexpected. It doesn’t matter, because the story is such high quality that I couldn’t stop devouring it the first and the second time I read this book. The villain is a nasty piece of work. He’s connected to Ewan’s past, so the mystery builds when Ewan is reunited with Marlie.

So much is to be appreciated from Alyssa Cole’s talent. Even the simple things like learning new words such as “manumit” have made me a huge fan of her work. Her women of color are strong and eloquent with a fire inside them. Such a joy to read. This is the historical fiction from the American Civil War I’ve craved, and had no idea what I was missing until now.

It’s like Alyssa Cole took everything I love to read and mixed it with everything I’ve always wanted in an American Civil War historical novel. Such intelligence threaded through, making it all cohesive. I can’t even fathom what it took to pull this magic together to become this beautiful book. Either the author is a genius, or she can research and organize beyond comprehension with the aid of the best editors in the world.

It’s very clever how other books were interwoven into A HOPE DIVIDED – giving Marlie and Ewan a chance to discuss what they’re read. And they’re not simple discussions, either. They’re often philosophical. After every chapter I sat in wonder, because it’s unlike anything I’ve experienced in fiction. So much so that I had to read it twice, and then I was even more amazed the second time through. There’s so much valuable content crammed into a small number of pages that it might appear overwhelming. But, it’s not. It’s just never boring. I’m betting a third reading will happen in my future and that’s extremely rare for me.

I’m not normally a fan of quotations from other books inside a novel I’m reading. Especially if I haven’t read the book being quoted. To me that feels almost like it’s taken out of context, because I really don’t get the meaning when it’s in pieces-parts like that. That means it’s high praise to say I love the way Alyssa Cole inserted quotes from other books for her characters to discuss. It’s especially revealing for Ewan’s temperament. It explains a lot about where he went wrong and how he is such a stand-up guy after the reader discovers his past. I can’t figure out how the author made him so redeemable, but she did, and it fascinated me.

A HOPE DIVIDED by Alyssa Cole reads like a thriller when the layers are revealed in her exquisite storytelling style. Historical fiction lovers should read both books currently in THE LOYAL LEAGUE series. They’re beyond description on my part. With everything I’ve craved and never found, I’m no longer bored with historical romance, now that I have Alyssa Cole to keep me perplexed, anxious, thoughtful, and thoroughly entertained. I need book three, AN UNCONDITIONAL FREEDOM, right now, but we must wait until October 2018 for its release. It’s going to be a looooong wait!

A Recommended Read as the most intelligent novel I’ve read!

Don’t miss book one, AN EXTRAORDINARY UNION, also reviewed by me at Romance Junkies.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies.

This series is just great. The romance is always fun while being grounded in reality and often very difficult situations. I really appreciate diversity in my reading, and especially in romance where it isn't always as common. I thought the first book the Loyal League series was a bit stronger, but I will definitely be continuing on with these books!

I absolutely LOVE this author. But this book did not quite do the same thing the first one did for me. I wasn't quite as into the couple as I was the first book. I loved the heroine, I loved her kind of Naturopath ways and how she was a healer. I loved the dichotomy that was her having a family and having that safety net ripped away from her and that she hadn't realized that it was so tenuous. I just was not as into the hero. I wanted the heroine to have someone else...but I loved her so much I almost gave this 5 stars lol.

This is a beautiful continuation as # 2 of the Loyal League series. The author has done her research on the Civil War times and the book has left me looking forward to a continuation of the series.
Highly recommended for lovers of historical romance.
Pub Date 28 Nov 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Almost all of my favorite "best of 2017" romance lists includes An Extraordinary Union, the first book in Cole's "Loyal League" Civil War series. But to my mind, the second book, A Hope Divided, is far more successful as a romance, albeit a slow-build one. Heroine Marlie Lynch is in a fascinating position to comment both on privilege and oppression: the daughter of a former enslaved woman, she currently lives with her white father's family (although neither her white sister or brother openly talk about her parentage or their relationship to her). She and her white sister, Sarah, have been actively involved in white resistance efforts in Carolina for the three years the Civil War has raged, but even Sarah doesn't know that Marlie has agreed to house escaped, injured prisoner of war Ewan McCall in the hideyhole in her own bedroom, a decision that grows ever-more dangerous after Marlie's brother and his southern wife come to live at the family plantation. Marlie and Ewan are both curious intellectuals, Marlie with both her folk and her Western science knowledge of medicine, and Ewan with his investment in Greek Stoicism and the logic that calms his often tumultuous mind (another hero on the autism spectrum). Their respect for one another's brains, which plays out in conversations about philosophy and social justice, as well as their attraction to each other's bodies, makes for a gradually-building but deeply felt romance.

I have read Alyssa Cole before so I came into this book with high expectations especially with it being set in this historical period surrounding the conflicts of the Civil War. For the most part there were many redeemable qualities about this story, there is great histrical context, the characters are in depth and captivating and so very unique. However for some reason the writing didn't grab me. Now I had read Cole's contemporary romance not too long ago and LOVED it. So I just didn't expect to struggle with this one. I ended up having to skim through most of it, I probably would have set it aside earlier, but I really wanted to give this one a chance and it was also a ARC via Netgalley. I still plan on reading this author in the future, it probably was just me since everyone else has raved about this book!! I will say that this book offers many qualities that will appeal to a variety of readers especially if you are looking for a story steeped in history and real life characters...then you will enjoy this one!!

A Hope Divided, the second book from The Loyal League series, is a good read and I liked it. 3 1/2 stars.

Earlier this year I read and fell in love with An Extraordinary Union. Its story introduced me to an aspect of the Civil War that I was unfamiliar with - that of the men and women, including the freed slaves who risked their lives and freedom to serve as spies during the war. A Hope Divided follows in that vein with Malcolm's brother, Ewan who as a spy has been pretending to be a prisoner of war so that he can deliver secrets to the Loyal League. It's at prison that he makes Marlie's acquaintance. Marlie is unique in that she's half black and half white and has been recognized by her white family, to a certain extent. She has grown up with privileges that no slave could ever dream of but she has never forgotten who she is. With the advantages that she has, she covertly works for the Loyal League using her reputation as a healer to protect her. When Ewan's dramatic escape from prison is botched, Marlie offers to hide him away in the safest place possible: her home. Specifically a hidden room within her bedroom. It's a temporary solution that puts them both in danger but that's what they have to do until Ewan is healthy enough to make another escape


A Hope Divided is striking in that it presents a series of ironies that only highlight the the evils of bigotry. For example, Ewan is a white man trapped in a room, forced to hide from the Confederate soldiers. Marlie, is a free Black woman who can roam around town yet will forever be trapped by the colour of her skin. The book also looks at the complicated dynamics of a family that includes a person of colour -- how they address each other or refer to one another in the company of others, how they convey their feelings and ultimately, how they really see each other while never acknowledging their connection out loud, not even in the privacy of their own home. I thought that was an enlightening aspect of Marlie's story. When the Confederate Home Guard decides to make her house homebase, Marlie's security in her own home is upended. She's no longer as free has she has been. It also put her and Ewan in harm's way and they have no choice but to escape. And here we see Marlie as the healer that she is, someone who is always looking out for others even if it means putting herself in danger. Ewan, who's more philosopher than fighter, now has the resolve to truly fight for everything important to him.


My favourite part of the story is the connection that Ewan and Marlie Have. Both find intellectual stimulation in each other's company, engaging in lively philosophical conversations and debates. There is, of course, the physical attraction as well. My least favourite part is the language and abuse hurled at Marlie and other slaves. It's an unfortunate part of the story and history but it's unsettling to read nonetheless. I can't even begin to fathom treating someone that way and thinking a person inferior because of their colour.


I enjoyed the suspense in A Hope Divided and that both Ewan and Marlie eagerly aspire to live up to their cause despite the odds against them. This series has been a great way for me to gain insight and learn more about the time period. Definitely worth the read!


~ Bel