An Unconditional Freedom marks the end of the Loyal League series, a series that needs to be on the every reader’s TBR. While the series is historical romance, I believe it will appeal to non-romance readers as well. The way Alyssa Cole centers the narratives of free Black and enslaved people during the Civil War is not to be missed. This is an important part of American history.

I can't stop marveling over not only what Cole accomplished in this story but the series as a whole. She crafted an amazing story with staying power.

While the first two books in the series dealt more in intrigue, An Unconditional Freedom examines the cost of enslavement. Daniel was a free Black man when he was kidnapped and sold in to slavery. While his friends were eventually able to free him, he bears scars both literal and figurative. His quest for revenge leads him to join the Loyal League and he doesn’t care much about making friends, nor does he have much faith in America. His arc really pulled on my heartstrings.

Janeta is Cuban and her family moved to a Florida plantation after her mom, her father’s former slave, died. Her whole life she’s been told she’s special, she’s not like the enslaved, even if they have the same color skin. And eventually she stopped asking questions about the enslaved in the fields and believes her parents’ lies. But then her dad is thrown in jail by the Union army and her love interest tells her the only way he can be freed is if she spies on the Loyal League.

The beauty of Janeta’s story is watching her eyes open to the reality of slavery in both Cuba and the United States. Once she and Daniel are partnered together, she’s exposed to an entirely different world from the one she was raised in. From there, she has to work through whether she’ll betray Daniel and the Loyal League and what will happen to her father. There’s a lot we can learn from Janeta’s experience of understanding race and racism.

Daniel and Janeta faced high stakes and I had no idea how their happily ever after would come about in the midst of all they faced and their seemingly opposite goals. But it came through! It was a slow burn but it was worth the wait. They were so good for one another, so good at seeing the best in one another once they got past their first impressions.

Alyssa Cole keeps outdoing herself with every book. I cannot recommend this series more highly, whether or not you’re a romance reader. The stories are that good and that important.

“Hate made good kindling, but hope burned much brighter.”

CW: slavery, racism, violence, threats of sexual assault

Daniel Cumberland, a freeborn Negro, a student of the law, finds himself sold into slavery. He is rescued by the Loyal League. He joins them in their mission to assist the Union. Janeta is a Cuban heiress who wants to avenge her father and gather information for her Confederate lover. She infiltrates the Loyal League and is teamed up with Daniel. Together they (eventually) unite to help their people. The feels this book creates! The writing hits you in the heart. Do not read this without a box of tissues close at hand.

“Hate made good kindling, but hope burned much brighter.”

I have one question. Why are these books not on the magic teevee machine as a mini-series?

5 Stars

Another fantastic addition to the Loyal League series, AN UNCONDITIONAL FREEDOM is my new favorite historical romance by Alyssa Cole. Janeta's double agent storyline is deftly woven with Daniel's mission in a heartpounding ride from start to finish. If historical romance fans don't already have Alyssa Cole on their auto-buy lists, AN UNCONDITIONAL FREEDOM should earn her a spot at the top.

Janeta Sanchez has an incredibly difficult role. She is about to become a double agent. Her father has been unjustly accused of treason and imprisoned and if she succeeds, she hopes to get him released. Janeta will be working with a spy named Daniel Cumberland, but he doesn't realize that she is working at cross purposes.

Daniel definitely has challenges. For one thing he is trying to come to terms with the fact that his beloved now belongs to someone else. But the real issue is his assignment. He has the opportunity to take down the Confederacy. The Civil War is raging, but then, so is Daniel. His objective makes him aim high, so Daniel is forced to bury his own anger.

Meanwhile, both Daniel and Janeta grow in attraction to one another. But, this is no easy romance because their missions are secret to one another and this will no doubt bring conflict. Just as this is not a simple romance story, this is not a simple tale. The times are hard because of all of the goings on at that time. The horrors of slavery and the fact that Daniel was born free, then later sold into slavery is just so sad. While it is a fact that he was freed again, the angst he feels is very real.

Overall, the story takes place during the abolition of slavery and Daniel's experiences illustrate just how terrible slavery actually was. Conversely, Janeta's experiences are entirely different. As a matter of fact, her situation was just so difficult it was very hard to imagine her and Daniel ever coming to terms, never mind succeeding at love and the chance for a future together.

Reading all three books in this series in quick succession - An Extraordinary Union, A Hope Divided, and this titles, An Unconditional Freedom - was an eye-opener and a good, if not painful, reminder of a time in history when race and equality for women was utterly unbalanced, to say the least.

There were some serious difficulties Alyssa Cole no doubt faced when writing this story, even this entire series. In this case, for starters, she wrote a heroine who may have started off unlikable to many. She had to help this heroine evolve in the eyes of readers. Much more serious, however, was the fact that she tackled issues like the following - and this limited list is from her author's note at the end of this book - white supremacy, neo-Nazis, Confederates and slavery. Make sure to read the note in order to see the unfortunate but true comparison this well-informed author makes. There is also an excellent bibliography included.

Many thanks to Kensington Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

What an eye-opening read, from beginning to end, we are in the middle of the American Civil War.
The author has given us a man who was born free and had ambition to become a lawyer, and then evil fate intervened, and using his smarts only made things worse. We also have a young woman who was born of mixed race, only she was treated as a princess, and didn’t notice the plight of her people, only taking life for granted.
What a journey you are about to begin, and action takes place right up to the end of this amazing read. We watch the characters change and grow through the words the author gives us, and it will really make you think.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Kensington, and was not required to give a positive review.

Alyssa Cole never fails to deliver when it comes to The Loyal League series. An Unconditional Freedom is the 3rd book in this historical romance series and once again, we are entranced in a multi-layered story that is resilient, heartbreaking and promising all at once.

Daniel Cumberland is a man born free but he soon learns that freedom is fluid and not a guarantee. He’s a bright man with a promising future but none of that matters when he is sold into slavery and brought down South. After he is freed, he joins The Loyal League, an organization of spies committed to ending the Civil War. However, Daniel doesn’t necessarily fit in; the anger he carries around like a second skin does not make him likable amongst his fellow spies.

Janeta Sanchez joins with ulterior motives, and without giving much away, she is paired with Daniel and their partnership is rocky at first. Which honestly, was warranted.

Daniel is scarred, angry and eager for revenge. I braced myself for the emotions I would feel while reading this book but Daniel still took me off guard. His rage is palpable and almost suffocating throughout the entire book. You feel his pain and you want to both soothe and fight with him at the same time. Janeta was an iffy character for me, at first. She wasn't honest when we first met her and I wondered how she would present herself by the end. I was immediately on the defense about her because as a reader, I knew her initial intentions were not pure. Would she really be able to redeem herself? Would readers believe it? She did as she realized soon enough whose side she needed to be on and became the fighter she was always capable of being.

Daniel and Janeta had a lot to work through and their evolving relationship took some time emotionally as they each had issues they needed to deal with.  I liked them together well enough and while I didn’t quite feel as if they had an undeniable or 'can't live without' love, they worked and their relationship was weaved well into the story. 



An Unconditional Freedom, like the other two books the series, is one that’ll stay with you. If you haven’t read this series as yet, I recommend you do so now. You can also check out my reviews HERE.

The emotional depth of these characters, mainly Daniel's is what I loved most about this story and I'm always down when it comes to learning a bit of history when I'm reading especially about black and brown people both freed and enslaved who helped during the civil war.

I think the author did a good job of covering things about the war. Some of those things included that White people weren't the only ones to profit off of the despicable acts of slavery. Also, she gives us a character who deals with self hate which still runs rampant in communities of color in the Year of Our Lord 2019. The idea of being better than you brothers/sisters because you are no longer "in the fields" with them still goes on and it needs to be addressed more. Folk tend to talk over one another when certain subjects come up but...that's a conversation for another day.

I marked this as a romance on my Goodreads shelf but in all honestly, we get very little romance in An Unconditional Freedom and I didn't mind that at all. Daniel and Janeta's relationship was more than heated gazes and bodies. It was a relationship of two people doing what they can to survive in a Country that refused see them as human but also a relationship of two people fighting their own personal demons during a time that threatened to do them both in...more so for Daniel.

I do wish she had covered...maybe just a little more of Janeta's travels before she met up with Daniel and the Loyal League. A woman, especially a black woman traveling alone during the Civil War could not have been safe at all.

I will say that the plot and world building was a tad lackluster IMO. Although I loved both Daniel and Janeta as characters, I felt like "their" stories overpowered the plot causing a bit of a disjointed drawn out tale with a ending that felt rushed and somewhat unfulfilling.

Still, An Unconditional Freedom is a good story and if you have a love for Historical Fiction, then definitely add this one to you reading list.

Thank you to the publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to review.

There are some authors that I am continually amazed at their writing. I mean, of course, every book I give 5 stars to I love, but the authors that move between genres easily or are especially prolific without seeming to have their talent fade at all? They are particularly perplexing to me because I know writing a book cannot be easy.



Alyssa Cole is one of those authors, and this book…just wow. An Unconditional Freedom is one of those books that will stick with me for years to come. This whole series is beautifully written, with complex characters, and a lushly written historical context of the Civil War. But this conclusion to the series blew me away and is my favorite.



But I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn readers that this one is darker in tone for sure. Which sounds weird, because all of the books are about slavery so obviously they’re dark…but Daniel, the main character, is intense here. With good reason obviously – in the previous Loyal League books he’d been taken into slavery, even though he was a free man. So when this book opens he is a broken, bitter man. He is clearly in a deep, dark hole of depression that I recognized but was not expecting for some reason in a historical. Cole portrayed this so vividly and did this as deftly as she handles everything else. But because of this well of darkness on top of the heaviness of slavery I did have to take breaks while reading it. So just go into reading it being prepared – it is incredibly worth it though!



Daniel’s depression, PTSD, and anxiety was understandable along with his rage. The depiction of all of this was portrayed through his scorn of almost everything, including Janeta, the heroine. She surprises me so much throughout the book. Her growth and story arc was beautiful and unexpected. She’s relatively naïve – coming from a plantation in Cuba, having owned slaves, and her white father having married her Black mother. She’d always accepted the world that her father had told her existed and watching her eyes slowly opening via Daniel and their journey was incredibly moving.



Janeta seemed to me like the proxy for a potentially sheltered reader. Janeta starts off spying for the Confederacy but as she meets new people and experiences unfamiliar things Janeta starts to questions the status quo that she was sold on by her family and society while growing up. Cole manages this incredibly beautifully because the entire time I was reading this I felt such a kinship to Janeta even though I’d had literally none of the same experiences. But for every single thing Janeta questions I can make a parallel line to a story we were sold in History class that isn’t *quite* (or at all) accurate. I know that I personally wasn't taught the full story of so many things that took place in history - from Christopher Columbus 'discovering' America to Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings and so much more. When I grew up and realized the reality of these things I felt a sort of shock and and questioned why I accepted at face value what I was told. This is maybe a tiny fraction of a percentage of what Janeta could be feeling as she becomes aware she's been living in a world that doesn't really exist.



The relationship between Daniel and Janeta is complex and starts out based on deception and holy crap was I ALL CAPS WORRIED about this throughout the book. Because this is a romance and in the hands of an author I trust implicitly I knew it would turn out okay but wow was I unsure how she would manage this. They fall in love slowly, and it takes a while for both of them to even recognize their feelings, all the while they are constantly in a state of heightened danger. That juxtaposition is one that really worked well for me.



“Hate made good kindling, but hope burned much brighter. It flared up in him, that sensation he’d thought he’d never feel again.”



Cole has clearly done her historical research for these books as the layers and depth here virtually shine. There is mention of Daughters of the Tent and I literally had to run to Wikipedia when I was done because I needed to know more! I never do that. And I don’t always read author’s notes at the end but I know hers are not to be missed, seriously read this one. It made me cry all over again. I can only imagine how difficult this book was to write during this environment and I am so grateful that Cole wrote it.



This whole series is beautiful but this conclusion to The Loyal League is the highlight for me. I cannot recommend this highly enough, it is a historical not to be missed.



5 STARS!

i have read the reluctant royals series and the first two books in this series. i have enjoyed all of alyssa cole's books that i have read, though i vastly prefer the contemporary series. i still liked the first two books in this series a lot though.. i liked this one too but unfortunately, it was a little bit underwhelming. slight spoilers in netgalley review as i can't hide them. this is possibly more like 3.5 but unfortunately not enough to round up.

i am not american and even though alyssa cole writes very well and in a way that is easy to understand, i often found myself confused in these books and would have to ask my (american) husband questions. i did feel like i got more confused in this one than the first two, but that's just my inability to absorb anything historical i didn't learn in school, i think. but anyway. all of the books i have read by alyssa cole have been easy to read, as in, i settle in and can read them in a sitting or two as long as life doesn't get in the way. this one didn't feel like that, i kept putting it down in the first few chapters because it was just... a lot.

i loved how janeta grew, that was very emotional and realistic and i just loved it. daniel was a bit harder to get a grasp on. i liked them together but needed more development, i didn't really feel their connection as much as i wanted to. there wasn't a whole lot of sexual tension and nothing happens beforehand, there's an almost kiss but when they do kiss, they have sex the same night and that is 80%. i don't need sex in my books, but it tends to solidify the connection i feel between the two characters so when that is lacking, so is my investment in their relationship. the romance just felt like it took a back seat in this book, whereas the previous two had that nice balance. this one definitely felt more historical fiction than romance, which was a bummer for me. i am okay with it being a slow burn, i love a good slow burn, but i need to feel the burning before they get together and i didn't.

i felt a little underwhelmed by how janeta's secret comes out to daniel. i wish we had an inkling he already knew - he thinks a few things over the course of the book but it makes it seem as if he doesn't know, that he's suspicious. so when it comes out, it's a bit underwhelming and glossed over. because of how that comes up and is resolved, and so late in the book, the conflict that does come up afterwards didn't feel as... conflicting. important. i don't know.

overall, i liked this one but not as much as i have liked alyssa cole's books in the past. i wanted a little bit more and was left feeling a teensy bit dissatisfied. i'm not mad i read it, i still recommend the series as a whole and will continue to read everything she publishes.

I ended up reading this in fits and starts. Not really sure if it was just my mindset or the book itself. Let’s go with my mindset and not blame the book. It was hard for me to connect with Janeta at first because I just couldn’t agree with what she was doing. Yet I can’t argue that her position didn’t exist-where someone lives in a bubble and only knows what’s in front of them. If nothing else it shows the importance of exploring life outside of your own worldview and being open to other ideas. Nevertheless I enjoyed very much hers and Daniel’s journey. The last 20% of the book was my favorite.

Thank you Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Excellent, complex, nuanced book, balancing romance, a spy plot and the pain and injustice of slavery very well.

This was my first book from Alyssa Cole’s Loyal League series, and I was blown away by how well she developed Daniel and Janeta’s individual story arcs, together with the historical elements of the American civil war.

Daniel is the son of a free man, tracked and sold into slavery, he is badly damaged by his experiences in many ways, and has now joined the Loyal League detectives, determined to aid the Union, and strike back at those who support slavery in some way, even if it costs him his life. He is ashamed of his failures, and holds himself apart from everyone.

Janeta is the daughter of a Cuban Plantation owner who married her slave mother. She has been encouraged by her family to ignore the plight of slaves, and has joined the Loyal League to spy on them to free her father from prison.

They are pared up on a mission together, and what I loved what the way the characters developed and worked through their issues separately and together. Janeta was a hugely unsympathetic character to begin with, but Ms Cole made her evolution into a strong, principled character so believable, filled with pain and self realisation, and ultimately hope. Daniel too, gained strength from Janeta’s belief in him, and by working through his trauma.

What I found especially good was the way that Alyssa Cole showed the characters develop themselves, supported and believed in by the other, but not just because of the other.

There were just some lovely phrases that really resonated with me - on Daniel:

“Everyone saw his anger and disdain, but they were simply the shiny, distracting clasps that held the cloak of loneliness he wore in place.”

You can see that the current status of race relations in the US has affected Alyssa Cole’s handling of this story, as she herself explains in the afterword. The story brings the struggle of slavery and inequality and how it impacted on the characters front and centre, and the romance is more secondary, but I still think it was an excellent read.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Also posted on Goodreads

I had heard many positive things about Alyssa Cole's historical romance and this book did not disappoint. Daniel and Janeta were excellent characters with rich character growth. Both came from rather complicated and painful backgrounds and it was gratifying to see them work through these issues together in a realistic way. The historical setting was likewise evocative and worked well in contrast with the character's inner journeys. The realities and heartbreak of slavery was a stark but powerful narrative, and the character's views just as complicated and nuanced. I appreciated that while there was a story thread that set up on character to be betrayed by the other, the problem was solved through meaningful dialogue, which was in keeping with the rest of the book's themes. One of the best and unique historicals I've read in a while.

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the story of Daniel & Janeta will stay with me for a long time. I can't stop thinking about this book.
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Cole's writing continues to enthrall. Her characters continue to intrigue & pull you in with their beauty & flaws. Daniel Cumberland is one of the brokenest heroes I've ever read & one of the most honorable. .
Janeta Sanchez was complicated! At first I wasn't sure I even liked her. I didn't trust her agenda but she was such a fascinating character & Alyssa wrote her so well that it wasn't long before I was rooting for her.
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The romance between Daniel & Janeta was a delightful slow burn filled with internal conflict & tension. It didn't detract the overall plot of the book or their character arcs. It all fit together wonderfully.
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There were also some really interesting characters that I found myself wishing that Alyssa would write books about them.
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If you guys haven't read Alyssa Cole's Loyal League series, I highly recommend you start it now. It's amazing! .
Rating: 5 stars
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Thanks @kensingtonbooks for providing the ARC.

An Unconditional Freedom is the third installment from The Loyal League series. I thought it was a good read. I give it four stars.

Alyssa Cole has become my favorite author. I fell in love with her writing with the first Loyal League book and she has continued to impress me with each new book she publishes. The characters are strong and the romance never feels fake. Everything about Cole's writing is organic and I can't wait to see what she does next!

An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole is book three in The Loyalty League series. Cole has re-exposed the ugly side of American history in these historical fiction novels. This series highlights the civil war and the efforts of individuals working to end the institution of slavery and restore a united nation. Though part of a series, this novel is a standalone. However, I do recommend reading the two previous books for connecting details and added depth. This book brings the story full circle.

Daniel Cumberland was born free but was captured and sold into slavery. He is eventually freed and joins the Loyal League, an organization seeking to realize victory for the Union, and thereby the end of slavery. Daniel is consumed with rage and is determined to reap vengeance upon the system that took his freedom and destroyed his soul.

Janeta Sanchez is of mixed heritage but was raised privileged on her father’s sugar cane plantation in Cuba. Her family relocates to Florida, where her father is imprisoned for crimes against the Union. In an effort to free her father, Janeta infiltrates The Loyalty League to spy for the Confederacy. She is confused and disturbed by the truths she now faces with regard to the institution of slavery, perhaps she has been lied to by those closest to her.

Daniel and Janeta are partnered together, though neither is happy about the pairing. A growing attraction complicates the relationship. Can they save themselves and their future, whether together or separately?

Once again, Cole has done her research and gives a realistic depiction of Civil War America. Real people and entities are featured, which makes the story more believable and compelling. The plot held my attention from start to finish.

An Unconditional Freedom lives up to the standard Cole set in the first two books and I rate it 5 out of 5 stars. I find this edition of the series reminiscent of Solomon Northup’s novel, Twelve Years a Slave, recently released as a full-length film. I recommend this book and the entire series to fans of historical romance and American history buffs, especially those interested in the Civil War era.

My thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

I haven't read the other titles in this series, but it functions well as an introduction. It's a powerful piece of historic fiction (the romance is secondary in this title); it is full of pain and rage and terror, and a hope for a better future. Alyssa Cole is a phenomenal writer, and her characters are heartbreaking and true.

This is the best yet in Cole's Loyal League series! I love how Daniel and Janeta grow over the course of the book, and how they ultimately grow together.

I really enjoyed Dainel and Janeta's story!

I really enjoyed this story for the romance of it as much as the historical aspect of it. I normally read historicals set in Europe and those set in the US don't normally include the Civil War, so the history that I learned was an added bonus!

I really enjoyed watching the growth of both characters. Janeta had been raised wealthy and had never really experienced the prejudices that she experienced when she moved to the states. She ended up having to reexamine her whole life and the reality of the world. Daniel on the other hand, had grown up a free man and been sold into slavery. He had to get over a whole lot of anger about how his life had changed.

I've not read the other books in the series, but after reading this one, they are one my TBR list!

The Loyal League series has always burned with a fierce and righteous fury, but this book is an absolute conflagration. Hero Daniel Cumberland was born free but kidnapped into slavery and only rescued years later; he is a battered, bristling, murderous ball of hard-earned rage and trauma at the start of the book. We’ve caught glimpses of Daniel in the other books of the series: he was Elle’s childhood friend and would-be fiancé in An Extraordinary Union, and he had a brief but arresting cameo in A Hope Divided that hinted his past held awful and disturbing things. He stands on the cover of this book holding a lamp and a scroll, like the icon of some avenging saint. (I actually looked up the iconography to see if there was a saint reference I was missing.) Seeing the world through his eyes yanked the breath from my lungs and made me ache for his pain. What kind of heroine, I wondered, will he be matched with? Someone who can meet him in the middle of his anguish, matching pain for pain? Or someone who brings light into the storm?
Holy shit, she’s a Confederate spy.
They tell you that in the blurb so it’s not at all a spoiler, but I was too eager to read the book to glance at the blurb, and what a rush, my god. Janeta is black and Cuban; she is guarded and clever and observant and knows exactly how far her father’s wealth has protected her, and how many times it has failed. She’s not a believer in the Confederate cause—but she was steeped in its myths, and she needs to bring down the League to save her father. And now the League has paired her with Daniel. At this point in the story we know—we know, because this is Alyssa Cole’s book we’re reading—she is going to have all her sentimental illusions about her family and her slaveholder father torn away. We’ve seen Daniel’s past agony; Janeta’s greatest suffering is all still to come.
What follows is one of the most tense, brilliant, urgent, and gorgeous romances I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I don’t know how Alyssa Cole keeps doing this. I stand here in absolute awe, utterly vanquished.