"Cole does the seemingly impossible, using the Civil War as a backdrop for a realistic, gripping interracial romance that interrogates slavery, systemic racism, and more, while still remaining utterly swoon-worthy." --Entertainment Weekly, Top 10 Romances of 2017 on An Extraordinary Union

"Cole's Civil War-set romance boasts one of the most delightfully, unapologetically powerful heroines in recent memory. Elle Burns quotes The Art of War in between dodging Confederate bullets, and by the end of An Extraordinary Union, readers are just as smitten with her as her adoring love interest is." --BookPage, Top Pick, 10 Best Romance Novels of 2017 on An Extraordinary Union

"Cole's characters are complex and passionate. Readers will share the couple's rage and admire their determination" --Library Journal, Editor's Fall Picks for A Hope Divided

"Fans of Beverly Jenkins will be thrilled with Cole's fearless, steamy, and moving multicultural take on forbidden love in a time of slavery and war." --Booklist STARRED REVIEW for An Extraordinary Union

"Cole's sparkling gem of a romance portrays love at its most practical and sublime." --Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW, BEST BOOKS OF 2017 on An Extraordinary Union

"[Alyssa Cole's] prose is flawless. Her historical research is absorbing, and her characters are achingly human. This book is fantastic. As the war closes in around them, the line blurs between who is the rescuer and who is the rescued." --Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW for A Hope Divided

"Successfully navigating the challenges of writing an interracial romance set during the Civil War is difficult enough to do once, but to pull it off twice is truly impressive. And yet Cole has managed to do just that with her second book in the series." --Shondaland.com on A Hope Divide

"Cole tells a story that is utterly relevant to the America we live in today by examining the realities of an America past. An Unconditional Freedom is not an easy read, but it's a necessary one. For her characters, trauma is an unavoidable part of their lives. But love, compassion, decency, and hope can pull us out of the gloom to a hard-won happily-ever-after, a bright light in the darkness. In a world that can feel designed to crush our spirits, there's no message that feels more essential, inspiring or provocative than choosing happiness and love in the face of inexorable despair." --Entertainment Weekly on An Unconditional Freedom

"Forbidden attraction and the threat of betrayal are the initial hooks for what turns out to be a sumptuously written and meticulously researched tale of a country at war with itself and two damaged people who find themselves in each other's arms." --Kirkus Reviews, for An Unconditional Freedom