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    An Unconditional Freedom
    An Unconditional Freedom
    An Unconditional Freedom
    Audiobook10 hours

    An Unconditional Freedom

    Written by Alyssa Cole

    Narrated by Karen Chilton

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An assassination plot that could end the Civil War, and a hidden enemy that could destroy a secret league of unsung heroes . . . Daniel Cumberland, born free in Massachusetts, studied law with dreams of helping his people-dreams that died the night he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Daniel is rescued, but he's a changed man. When he's offered entry into the Loyal League, the covert organization of Black spies who helped free him, he seizes the opportunity for vengeance against the Confederacy and those who support it. When the Union Army occupies the Florida home of Cuban Janeta Sanchez, daughter of an enslaved woman and the plantation owner who married her, her family's wealth does not protect her father from being imprisoned. Under duress and blaming herself for the arrest, Janeta agrees to infiltrate a group called the Loyal League as a double agent-and finds a cause truly worth the sacrifice. Daniel is aggravated by the headstrong and much too observant new detective he's paired with, and Janeta is intrigued by the broken but honorable man she is tasked with betraying. As they embark on a mission to intercept Jefferson Davis and thwart European meddling, their dual hidden agendas are threatened by the ghosts of their pasts and a growing affection that could strengthen both the Union and their souls-or lead to their downfall.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 26, 2019
    ISBN9781980006053
    An Unconditional Freedom
    Author

    Alyssa Cole

    Alyssa Cole is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers and romance (historical, contemporary, and sci-fi). Her books have received critical acclaim from Library Journal, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, Booklist, Jezebel, Vulture, Book Riot, Entertainment Weekly, and various other outlets. When she’s not working, she can usually be found watching anime or wrangling her many pets.

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    Reviews for An Unconditional Freedom

    4/5

    51 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This third novel in the Loyal League series follows Daniel Chamberland. We met Daniel briefly in the first novel through the eyes of Elle Burns. We learn a bit more of what being captured and enslaved was like for Daniel through flashbacks, as we follow him through his journey to assassinate Jefferson Davis. He is paired with Janeta Sanchez, a spy for the confederacy. Janeta is the daughter of a former Slave Mother and Master Father. However, in Cuba they allow the marriage of Slave and Master and she was raised along her two half-sisters in a life of luxury. Constantly being told by her mother and family that she is nothing like the slaves who till their cane field. After her mother passes, she moves with her family from Cuba to Florida where she finds herself involved with a Confederate soldier. Her father is arrested and is accused of leaking secrets, so she feels responsible as she has been the one aiding the confederacy and her lover. He convinces her to infiltrate the Loyal League. It is through this subterfuge that she starts to learn the truth of what is really going on in the war, and how she is no different than those who are fighting for freedom. This was not my favorite out of the three, and while you don’t need too it is helpful for backstory and some references to have read the prior two books. I really enjoyed Daniel's character and learning more about his backstory. It was hard at first to understand his hatred for Elle, but as he developed it was easier to understand. Janeta was the worst female lead I have read in a while. There was just something about her that rubbed me the wrong way. Not sure if it was her ignorance, or that she was just written a bit flat compared to Elle and Marlie, the previous leading ladies. As with the other two I loved the history and the fact that while a romance novel it was not heavy on sensual scenes.
    • 4/5
      This is an interesting read about a couple in the American Civil War who learn a lot about themselves and about the cause they're fighting for. Daniel Cumberland was born free but was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Freed he fights for freedom and to avenge what was done to him with the Loyal League. His original life plans are gone and he's not sure if he has a future. Into his life comes Janeta Sanchez the daughter of a slave and her owner (who married her eventually) from Cuba who is tasked by the man who says he will marry her to save her father and infiltrate the Loyal League. As she works with Daniel she finds some uncomfortable truths and they both find a path to freedom.In some places somewhat obvious but in other's the story kept me reading and wanting to know what would happen next. They're helped by some unlikely allies but overall the story was interesting and said a lot about the reasons some fled and the reasons some stayed enslaved and the brutality it caused in both slaver and slave.
    • 4/5
      I have finally finished this series! I really enjoyed this book and the rest of the series, even though it took me more than a month to finish this one. I think this series does lean towards historical fiction with a side of romance but Cole fits those pieces together so well and it makes it a really enjoyable read.

      This book deal with Daniel, who we've met previously and Janeta, who is new to the series and who is Cuban and the daughter of a free man and a previously enslaved woman. This is an interesting set up because it's very new for this series and I liked that because of the fact Janeta was sent in as a Confederate spy, we get to see a lot more of the workings of the Loyal League. Since most of this book is the spy stuff, it had to be very well written in order to keep me engaged and I thought Cole did a really good job. I was able to predict where the plot would end up fairly easily but the definitely didn't effect my enjoyment.

      The romance was good but definitely mostly showed up at the end. The building of the romance, however, did definitely make the relationship seem stronger to me. I think Janeta and Daniel played off of each other best out of the three couples we've seen. Cole makes it very clear just how much they help the other grow and improve without being too pushy. It made me even more satisfied when they finally gave into their feelings for each other. I do think this one was the most historical fictiony of the three rather than a romance but I honestly didn't really mind that.

      I am happy I completed this whole series (a rarity for me) because these books are all very well done and clearly well researched. I would definitely recommend this series while saying it is heavier on the historical fiction side. I definitely want to read other series from Cole. I'd be interested to see her take on contemporary romance and I hope I enjoy those just as much as this one.
    • 4/5
      He was glad she had left this foul chamber pot of a country, that would make a man love it, then remind him how it despised him at every turn.

      Daniel's character, a lawyer born free then captured into slavery late in life sets up an interesting trajectory. The sentiments in this book apply as much today as they did then. The anger fueling these pages and that easily ignites within the reader is so persistent and relevant now. And that's why I 'd read this book. This is still an underrepresented viewpoint in history, let alone romance. Alyssa Cole is magnificent with a pen. I do think she's at times..clinical for some reason, I feel a little removed. (particularly with the chemistry between couples) I didn't with Daniel, but I sure didn't trust or relate to Janeta. And this presented its own problem. Janeta is a Cuban plantation owner and slave's daughter, but she's had a privileged position. It is her task to infiltrate the Loyal League to rescue her father. She's smart, resilient, with a soft and curious vulnerability that make her likable enough, but I didn't see how Daniel would ever come to trust her, let alone fall in love with her. And, because the plot in this book is so dominant-and so hefty- the background is the romance and the development of it, and in a romance that is this complicated, it wasn't executed well. It was upstaged by the heart-breaking plot and characters

      “I’m not talking about changing the laws, Daniel. I’m talking about changing the white men who craft them. Show me how to do that and we’ll solve the problem of America.”

      I think, though, if you go into this book thinking it's historical fiction, you will be pleased, if a little distracted by the romance. As a character, Daniel was a favorite. Incredibly tortured, realistic, and brilliantly used to comment on the current political and social climate in the US and beyond.

      There's plenty of quotes like the two I pulled out. The second book is still my favorite, though this is absolutely worth the read. The romance just happened to take a back seat and be couched in some pretty quick sidestepping and miracle shifts in feeling along with wondrous healing. That, and I felt like a few key background elements and plot points were repeated 2-5 too many times. I wish more of that had been dedicated to how they fell in love.

      Gratitude. It didn’t batter into him like a wave, but filled him slowly, like a rivulet pouring into a basin that had been parched by drought. 3.5 rounded up
    • 4/5
      This conclusion to the Loyal League series has a different feeling from the others, possibly because it is the only one in which our hero and heroine start on opposite sides. It also quite possibly found the only way to make an agent of an organization supporting the Confederacy sympathetic. This was an impressive look at how both characters grow (but with no too quick fixes) in discovering each other.
    • 4/5
      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.