Determined to save her father after the Union army occupies her Florida home, Janeta Sanchez travels North to infiltrate the Loyal League, an organization of black spies. As the daughter of a Cuban plantation owner and the formerly enslaved woman he marries, Janeta has never felt like she belonged among her wealthy and lighter-skinned stepsisters, or the uppity circles they navigate in. After she meets and falls for a Confederate soldier who convinces her that her dark skin, education, and knowledge of society rules will free her father from captivity and help the war in the Sons of the Confederacy's favor, Janeta sets out to be a double agent, but her plans are thrown for a loop when she meets her partner.

Daniel Cumberland is a man with a devastating past. Born free in Massachusetts, Daniel studied law and hope to work to help his people, but he's captured and sold into slavery. After his rescue, Daniel joins the Loyal League and quickly gains a reputation for his stealthy and ruthless abilities. When he's assigned to work with Janeta, obviously unskilled and untrained, Daniel keeps his guard up. Their assigned task will put them within reach of Daniel's ultimate revenge - to destroy the Confederacy at the highest level.

But their mission takes them deep into enemy territory and Janeta and Daniel both grapple with their true motives. Janeta is enthralled with this serious man, deeply marred physically and emotionally, and she hates the idea of not only betraying him but the entire black population her counterintelligence would keep enslaved. Daniel only has vengeance on his mind, but he can't deny Janeta is the only person in years who has made him feel like himself.

An emotional story of revenge, redemption, and an unlikely romance, AN UNCONDITIONAL FREEDOM is another incredible novel in Alyssa Cole's Loyal League series. Her ability to bring this difficult and treacherous time in history to life with characters you truly feel for is astounding, and I hope there are many more books to come. Her characters are layered, flawed, and fully realized, who readers watch come to terms with the people they have been, and who they want to become. Their journeys are just as tumultuous internally as they are while traveling through the deep South. Daniel suffers from PTSD after he was sold into slavery and was beaten and broken down. Revenge is all that fuels his life until he meets Janeta and finds something else to live for.

Janeta begins the novel naive and also feeling guilt over her life in Florida as she comes to realize the atrocities of black people in America, and what the Union and Loyal League are fighting for, and I enjoyed watching her figure out the best way to actually help a worthy cause. AN UNCONDITIONAL FREEDOM reflects a lot of the current political climate, how to best be an ally, and how to stand up for a cause. There were conversations between Daniel and Janeta, and especially between Daniel and a very intriguing British aristocrat, that felt like they could be had today. This, and all of Cole's Loyal League books, are highly, highly recommended!

Book Summary

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.