You, Me, & the Conspiracy

by Emma Barry

Perfect for fans of Jo Segura, You, Me, & the Conspiracy is an academic adventure romance that finds two history professors trying to unmask a deadly secret society.

After a bruising book rejection, tenure-track history professor Jessica Wilson is scrambling for something new to publish to secure her spot at the top of the academic food chain. While researching in the archives, she discovers a coded message written by one of the founding fathers with the power to change her—and the world’s—understanding of American history forever. But first, she’s got to prove it’s real.

Desperate for answers, Jess searches out Calloway Morgan, a Harvard PhD student turned adjunct professor. Cal was forced to leave graduate school after presenting theories about a shadowy revolutionary organization. Jess heard his conference presentation and thought his findings were absurd, but now, she believes he was on something.

With their fates intertwined by their discoveries, the two begin to work together, but danger lurks around every corner. The clandestine fraternity that they’ve uncovered still exists and is ready to kill. With it hot on their heels, the embers of Jess and Cal’s attraction grow. But unless they can make their findings public, they’ll soon become the conspiracy’s latest victims...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Adult, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Adventure

352 pages, Paperback

Expected publication November 10, 2026

About the author

Emma Barry is a teacher, novelist, recovering academic, and former political staffer. She lives with her high school sweetheart and a menagerie of pets and children in Virginia, and she occasionally finds time to read and write.

Reviews

[Sarah • ia for a while]

A romance book similar to National Treasure, Indiana Jones, and Uncharted??? Sign me the frick up! 🙋‍♀️🤭

[Amina · Rating 3 out of 5]

✰ 2.75 stars ✰

“Seeing the truth is like being the only sober person at a frat party. How do you handle it?”

The message as a whole is a valid one of how we should not allow history to dictate our actions and choices but rather learn from it to avoid repeating those same decisions and mistakes. But, as a supposed ode to National Treasure, I failed to find any relevance in that regard when much of Calloway and Jess' time was spent hiding out in the Minnie Winnie rather than actually doing some actual detective work in the line of action. 😟

True, Cal and Jess are history buffs on the road to tenure, not action buffs, so expecting them to suddenly turn cloak-and-dagger was highly unlikely, but rather than divulging in the apparent conspiracy theories surrounding America's forefathers, it was regaled with their obvious and failed to be blatantly aroused and scared and needing comfort and smitten feelings for each other. 🙄

“I’ll face down a revolutionary conspiracy that’s somehow still kicking with you.”

I didn't mind that by working together these two very sadly lonely souls were able to develop a meaningful connection, albeit a rather sudden romance with hungry and eager spicy times. 😏 But, I suppose, being confined for two weeks in an RV would do that; he had a partner. It was . . . nice. It was very much like understanding, like, especially when the hots for each other easily negate any other relevant sense.

That being that their lives were in danger, and they were on the brink of discovering long-buried secrets and coded reveals that sadly never made it beyond the many USBs in which all the information was stored away. I never got to experience the richness of U.S. history—moments were I was spellbound by its grandeur of austere ambience, or as the author put it 'legitimately ancient'. 😔

“Like Humpty Dumpty, no one was going to be able to put him back together again.”

I wasn't all too a fan of those tongue-in-cheek, sardonic quips poking fun at the idealization and idolization of the past. It failed to elicit a satisfaction of bringing the real truth behind the massive historical conspiracy that was the Ortu Solis. 😕 There was no joy or thrill of discovery; it was a flat search when so much felt more passive than aggressive.

I walked away feeling that You, Me was more at the forefront, & the Conspiracy never fleshed out into something of depth, other than inadvertently bringing them together of their shared theories. Not really fleshing out an all-too creative or intriguing premise of a backstory that would've made reading more of an adventure rather than a walk in the park - which, the plot wasn't entirely, but it never made me feel overly engaged or intrigued by what's to come. 😮‍💨

[Jess (lucky.bookclub) Hilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart and ambitious, albeit a little uneven. 📚✨

I went back and forth on this one a lot. There were moments where I was completely pulled in and needed to know what was going to happen next, and others where I found myself struggling to stay engaged.

I loved the academic setting, the conversations around privilege and access, and the secret-society, behind-the-scenes power structures. It has that dark, institutional, conspiracy-driven energy that leans very Da Vinci Code, and I can absolutely see this working well as a TV series or movie. 🎓

The biggest sticking point for me was the amount of history woven into the plot. It often felt dense and assumed a level of knowledge I just didn’t have anymore, which slowed the pace down for me. I kept wanting to spend more time with the characters and less time trying to keep track of historical details.

Overall, this is a really interesting, idea-driven story that didn’t fully land for me, but I can absolutely see it working for readers who enjoy history-heavy conspiracies and academic settings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[BookishKB]

📜🔍 You, Me, & the Conspiracy 🔍📜

📖 Bookish Thoughts

My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.

✨ What to Expect
• Academic Romance
• Rivals to Partners
• Secret Society
• Historical Mystery
• Treasure Hunt Vibes
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: November 10, 2026
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I DNFed this book at 46%. There will be spoilers for the book up to that point below. The star rating is for the section I did read—technically a 1.5 but rounded up since it’s a DNF.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m sorry to be DNFing this, especially because it was one of the most requested books on NetGalley for awhile, but it’s just not written well and not a compelling story.

It starts off when the FMC Jessica finds something in an archive that reminds her of this conspiracy presentation this guy Calloway gave a few years ago. She goes to talk to him about it but he warns her off because it ruined his career and it’s “dangerous.” There’s no explanation (or any hints from previous sections from his POV) as to why it’s dangerous. Jessica decides she doesn’t believe him anyway, and later mentions the thing to her advisor over the phone. A week later, she’s told her advisor is dead. She goes to teach her class and comes back to her office to find it trashed. Despite there being no reason to think otherwise, she immediately runs to Cal and tells him people from the conspiracy are after her, which is a HUGE leap to make. I will say, they do find an AirTag in her jacket, but they don’t find it until after she and Cal have met up and are on the run. So again—to automatically assume your office being trashed=a secret group is out to get you does not make sense in the context of the story. Cal gave Jessica a USB drive with some info on it and she hasn’t even looked at it yet to determine if the conspiracy has merit.

So they go check out Cal’s apartment. It’s also trashed. They don’t even mention her apartment, like it’s a non-option.
But not once have either of them felt like they’re being watched, no hints as to their phones being tapped, nothing! But Cal knows how to cover his tracks because he’s been super paranoid since his presentation—several years ago!—that he’s being watched. Again, no details as to how he knows that.

They go to a house of a friend of his and it’s literally that guy Murray from Stranger Things 😂 old dude conspiracy theorist, a million locks on his front door, a stash of guns in his living room.

He lets them sleep in his RV while they’re in hiding. No word to either of their families, their jobs, nothing. They’ve decided in a moment’s notice to just hide out undercover and then start tailing people who they think belong to the conspiracy group that’s after them because Cal, for some reason, doesn’t just have a list of people from the 1700s who were involved in this George Washington conspiracy. He also followed ALL of their family trees to the point that he has a list of people in the local area who he thinks are still in this mysterious group. And this is presented as normal. 🧐

The RV they’re sleeping in is in the friend’s garage. But there’s no description of any high tech security for the garage (which is a separate building in the backyard but is big enough to hold both an RV and a giant yellow corvette.) This doesn’t even go into the fact that if you want to run an RV off a generator, you have to have ventilation so you don’t get carbon monoxide poisoning. (I had to look that up cuz the whole scene just reads like you can flip a switch in the car and the power just comes on). So a ton of locks on the front door but no security anywhere else. Also, they decide to tail their first suspect in the giant yellow corvette. Because that’s not suspicious at all.

Honestly, this book is just incredibly frustrating. Jessica even mentions that her advisor dies and says, but that’s not connected to the rest of this stuff. Except 1) that means you think someone breaking into your office automatically means a secret cabal is out to get you and 2) we already know the advisor was killed because of the conspiracy because we get that scene from the killer’s pov!!! What??? Also, this author likes to randomly switch povs mid-section, when this book should just be dual 1st person pov. Her editor should have caught that and it’s already happened several times in the part of the book I did read. If I’m reading a section from Cal’s POV, for example, I shouldn’t be getting two sentences of Jessica’s POV before switching back to Cal. Jessica has her own sections for that.

Jessica herself was also a frustrating character. Her advisor, a close friend of hers, dies, and then later that day she makes out with Cal (her reason being people don’t like to look at couples kissing so if we kiss, the people following us won’t see us 🤨🙃) and she barely spares a thought later for either of those events. It just felt odd and not realistic at all. (She does spend quite some time thinking about how hot Cal is, but it was like the kiss was a sort of non-issue. I don’t know,
It was odd.)

We also get some backstory on Cal’s family and how his biological father is from some rich family that wants nothing to do with him but it’s ok because Cal considers his stepfather his dad. Which is fine as far as backgrounds go—I’m assuming it’s all to set up the rich family also somehow being involved in this conspiracy—but I think it would’ve served the story’s purpose better to get more info on the conspiracy itself and the proof Cal had from his presentation. The only proof we get in the book comes in the form of three portraits of George Washington, which don’t actually prove anything, and a USB drive that Jessica STILL hasn’t looked at by the time they go into hiding. So she goes from not believing to believing all because her office got trashed. Riiiight.

This book could’ve been so much better.

[esther ⋆⭒˚.⋆( interactive)]

--- pre-read ---
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!

I love academia romance, so I hope this will really hit the spot

P.s : Don't mind me quickly working through all my approved ARCs lol, I am on a roll rn lol

[Kristina Pauls (ARC Reviewer)]

PUBLISH DATE: Nov 10, 2026

PUBLISH DATE: Nov 10, 2026
BOOK TITLE: You, Me & the Consipiracy
AUTHOR: Emma Barry
PUBLISHER: Atria Books
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 352
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Kris (I.prefer.the.villain) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I want to begin by saying that I really wanted to love this book! It was billed as being like National Treasure, which I absolutely loved, so I was super excited to read this. However, this book did not meet my expectations at all.

I felt that this book really jumped all over the place with little to no transition at times, and there was a complete lack of true explanation as to what the "conspiracy" was that our MCs were involved in exposing. We don't really even attempt understanding as to what the "conspiracy" really involved until around 92% + of the way through the novel. We are supposed to believe that there are life and death stakes at play here, but why? Throughout the majority of the text, we are just told that George Washington was a "bad guy", and that now the MCs lives are in danger because they have evidence to expose this supposed fact to the masses. (Um, alright. Why would that be life changing information for anyone 250 years later?) When you actually find out what has been going on with this shadowy cabal, it's difficult to understand why that would come as a shock to anyone. In all honesty, who doesn't believe that there's more going on with the government that we as citizens are told??

Aside from how much this book jumps around (which also makes it extremely difficult for me to form a more linear response as to how I felt about this book in a way that makes sense), everything just seemed to work out too smoothly for the MCs. If these villains had really been holding onto things like the missing Watergate tape, stolen multimillion dollar paintings, and documents proving that George Washington was bought and paid for by this group, you would assume that they would have far more security than they actually did, and that actually retrieving these items would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Yet, our two college professor MCs have no issues breaking into one of their leader's homes, cracking his hidden safe, and strolling out of there with all kinds of USB drives containing information on their wrongdoings. Not to mention how easy it was for our MMC to scale a wall, break into their compound, use the combination he found on a Post-It note in the previous villain's home to open the door to their lair, and steal even more information. But wait, we aren't done yet!! They are also able to stroll right into a hidden bunker in which all of these priceless artifacts and damning documents are, and had they not taken 15 minutes instead of 5 inside, they'd have strolled out of there scott free. No alarms. No cameras. No real guards. Nothing. The believability was lost for me.

Now, for the thing that bothered me the most. I did not enjoy the current day political opinions that were constantly shoved down our throats. I have very low tolerance for hearing about how awful capitalism is, how privileged white people are, and for viewing an internal monologue that included our FMC wanting the MMC to rear end the vehicle in front of them for having a bumper sticker she viewed as supporting Republicans. To me, this felt disgusting and unnecessary, and it was done to death in this book. And yet, our MMCs had no issue accepting the 10-million-dollar reward for recovering a stolen painting for a museum. It seemed hypocritical. Every time something like this occurred on page, it made me want to put the book down and not pick it back up.


1.5⭐️ rounded up
1.25 cringe worthy 🌶️

[Sydney Gessler · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to books, a huge thing I have and always will adore is when the plot really makes me think. My historian heart loves stories that centre around history but also really anything that I don’t have a comprehensive knowledge of.

As soon as I started You, Me and the Conspiracy- I immediately had questions that had me running to my old history text books. I will admit as a Canadian who did her degree in European history and antiquity, I know little about American History. But this story encouraged me to learn more and god do I miss learning.

I think the plot was well flushed out and the pacing was well done. I was engaged the whole way through and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I adore Indiana Jones and National Treasure and this story really pays homage to them. While completely unrelated it still felt nostalgic.

I liked the characters as well, especially Ellis. The narration style was unique, it kinda jumps around to all the characters in the book- which I’ll admit I didn’t like at first, but it really grew on me. By the mid way point of the story I understood the authors choice with it and agreed wholeheartedly!

If you are looking for a fun adventure with delicious romance and high stakes, I would highly recommend!

[Hailey Camp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall rating: 4 ⭐️
Thank you to the author/publisher for providing an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

You, Me, & the Conspiracy by Emma Barry was a fun, engaging read that perfectly blended mystery, adventure, and romance. Also a great read for any American history buffs!

One of my favorite things about this book was how much it reminded me of the National Treasure movies. The story is filled with clues, secrets, and conspiracy theories that kept me curious and eager to see what would happen next. If you enjoy treasure hunts, hidden histories, and unraveling mysteries alongside the characters, this book delivers that same sense of adventure.

The romance was also incredibly cute. It complemented the mystery plot well without taking away from the action and intrigue. I enjoyed watching the relationship develop as the characters worked together, and their chemistry added a lot of charm to the story.

If you're looking for a lighthearted romantic adventure with National Treasure vibes, clever mysteries, and a sweet romance, You, Me, & the Conspiracy is definitely worth picking up. Publishing in November 2026!

[Ariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4 🌟 - a heavy like, not quite a love

Frankly, I had such a good time reading this. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous it was going to be overtly cheese or too instalusty but it was so much fun. It felt extremely national treasure coded and I loved the history conspiracy and secret organization stuff. I also loved that the romance WAS a little insta lust but it was also more than that. We got to see them actually be together and learn about eachother on top of thinking eachother was hot and that just felt pretty real

It was a good time and I think if you like national treasure you’ll like this!

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria and the author for the privilege of an ARC copy for my honest review 💛

[liz ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by Netgalley.

I so wish I knew my American History better because this book would have been epic if I did.

I really liked the academia aspect of this book and how it tied into the conspiracy theory plotline.

I just feel like, for me at least. that the American History influence kind of lost me, as I am not super into American History, nor do I really remember much surrounding the Founding Fathers from school. But for the girlies that are into American History, this is going to be a HUGE hit.

The romance was cute. I found Jess and Cal easy to root for.

[Kate Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so cute and so different! It blended light mystery and romance together well, and in the romance genre where everything can seem really similar, it was really refreshing to read a book so unique and different. I also appreciated how researched this book is— while it’s a light read, I can tell how much time the author spent reading American history and engaging with it, and it makes the book all the better. The ending left me a bit dissatisfied, it felt a bit anticlimactic, but I otherwise really really enjoyed this.

[Courtney Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley.
This was a fun read! I was sold when it was a romance book that was supposed to be similar to national treasure. It didn’t quite hit the landing for me, but it was still a super fun read!
Some of the romance between the main characters didn’t quite hit and there were times pacing felt off, but I thought the story was fun and enjoyed the mysteries and twists.

[Lyla Nadeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, fun, full of adventure, mystery and discovery with some history in there. This one’s for the nerds, the history lovers, the national treasure fans. I really enjoyed the story, twists and turns and adventure. Their relationship was sweet. Definitely enjoyed this one.

I read this off of netgalley.

[Sharla]

I’m all in! I’m grateful and thrilled to receive an ARC for this one! I’m hoping it delivers because it says that it’s National Treasure meets The Mummy and involving Lovebirds- my Indiana Jones-lovin’ father would be proud! Is it too good to be true? Stay tuned… it’ll be a bit with so many ARC’s but I’m trying!!! 🤪💝

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

One whole star for the conspiracy

A really interesting conspiracy— secret societies and academia and the Revolutionary War!— but it was a shame the romance didn’t do its job and hold up its part. The conspiracy was well-researched the romance almost detracted from it, also bc it was just instalust and not based on any emotional connections whatsoever 🤢

Infodumpy at times, especially in the first 20%— once we were in the camper van the pace started moving. The pacing was odd (we would jump from scene to scene, esp between chapters, and we just wouldn’t see important convos or situations????) and it was a very tell-y (vs. showing) book

I was expecting academia secret societies…and we got conspiracy doomsday “living in an RV off the grid” vibes instead 😭 a good chunk of the middle was just them debating getting freaky in this garage and then breaking into someone’s apartment or something vaguely illegal with little to no ramifications. The amount of times these ppl just stumbled upon USB thumb drives and folders of files and HAPPENED to get lucky was inane

Gun to my head, I couldn’t tell you the central conspiracy of this book besides the ***main shadowy evil goal of Ortu Solis to be evil and powerful***

That final boss fight…A) why was it at the 90% mark B) what a fucking sorry joke of a feud ex machina conflict— we finally have the showdown in the bunker, ok, great, I can get behind that, but, oh, no, as Cal’s saying something pithy to Jess’s evil dad and evil Patrick, Jess shoots the gun, misses, and then the cops show up JUST in time!!!!! I felt cheated out of a good ending— I read the last 5% in a state of 😒

The amount of times we had a “capitalism is bad and evil” comment occur in Cal’s monologue…..GIVE IT A REST!

Cal and Jess were flat - just full of indescribable lust for each other and then somehow boom they were falling in love?? I couldn’t connect to them as much as I would have wanted

Cal wanting to teach at community colleges, even after all this👍 Cal and Jess beating the “you owe me a pumpkin spice latte” bit to a pulp (AKA mentioned PSL more than 3 times) 👎

Patrick was obvious from the first jump at being evil, glad Jess caught on (fairly) quickly. Dad was a semi-obvious twist I didn’t see coming so that was cool

[Nos · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I am going to be very honest in my review I am so sorry Emma Barry.

TL;DR: I do not think anyone on earth should read this book. SPARE YOURSELF.

I'm going to start with the positives. The prose is very competent and enjoyable, and I would gladly read another book by Barry again if it... well we'll get into the rest. I also really enjoyed Jess's character for the first 30% of the book, and for parts of the rest of the book. I think the character had a lot of promise and would have flourished in a better book. I also, surprisingly, liked the military veteran prepper character. I thought his parts of the book were actually handled well, and his characterization was handled in a more well-rounded way than I expected.

Now for...the rest of the book. First of all, if you're going to write a book with "conspiracy" in the title you have got to at some point spell the conspiracy out to the readers in a comprehensible way. Not only does Barry never do this throughout the entire book, every time she attempts to explain the conspiracy I got more confused. At multiple points Ortu Solis (Latin for Rising Sun, and the shadow org of the conspiracy) seems to have entirely conflicting goals! There are historical events that actually happened with competing aims and ideas named next to each other with no attempt to distinguish for the reader who is probably not thoroughly versed in relatively niche American Revolutionary War history that there were any differences between them. This is not only bad writing but bad practice as a supposed post-grad level historian!! But we have only BEGUN to scratch the surface of the nightmare. The aims and idea of Ortu Solis are so confused that at one point, among a paragraph of other things they're said to be responsible for, the book says "and Nixon." Just...Nixon. Just his name. No specifying if they were responsible for his election, had a hand in Watergate, had a hand in exposing Watergate...no! Just...Nixon. Am I supposed to believe that they are responsible for his existence? That cannot be the intention. And yet, I am left to wonder! And I could GO ON! Everything about this part of the book, the actual main point of the book, is completely muddy, under-explained, and nonsensical.

Second, the pacing and plot of the book. At first, I was willing to go along with some pretty rough moments in the pacing of the book because well, it is a book trying to go after the cachet of conspiracy thrillers, maybe Barry is trying a little too hard to emulate them in what should perhaps be a slightly tamer romance book about two academics. And then it became unforgivable when our main characters have a conversation about a plot hole. Right in front of us they have a back and forth about how lucky it is that the antagonist didn't find the important Thing when he was planting something else in the exact spot the important Thing was. And my jaw dropped. Instead of oh, I don't know, fixing the plot hole, Barry just has the most forced, inane conversation happen in front of our eyes like we won't notice?? And the worst thing is, if they hadn't had the conversation, maybe I wouldn't have! But she POINTED OUT the plot hole to me and then TRIED to explain it away so poorly I felt like perhaps Barry thinks her readers are stupid. And the pacing... every time something needs to happen in the book, every time it seems Barry can't figure out how to get her character(s)--it's mostly Jess, because she has a head on her shoulders--into the place in the plot she wants them in, she drops something absolutely wild on the book and forces stakes escalation. It's maddening. This book needed developmental editing so badly I almost wonder if it isn't a second draft lightly edited for typos. And I hate to be so scathing but it's BAD, and once you notice it you can't stop seeing it. And Barry doesn't give you much time to not notice it because she immediately feels she has to up the stakes within the first 20% of the book!

Overall, this reads like a book written during an event like NaNoWriMo, where the first answer that pops into your head for "how to resolve this problem" is always the correct one because the goal is to have 50k written words, not 50k deftly plotted and coherently paced words. But books aren't supposed to get published in that state! I also highly suspect, from the author's note, that the issues with the under-explanation come from a sort of xkcd comic "and quartz of course" style overfamiliarity with the idea; Barry talks about having made up this conspiracy years ago in college as a tongue in cheek way to cope with learning grim truths about American history. I suspect, having thought about it for so long, it has become difficult for her to extract from her brain and explain clearly to other people, because it just makes sense to her. Ah well!

I will say, I do think Barry has plenty of skill as an author, she simply is at perhaps her worst with this book. I'm planning to try out her chess based book Bold Moves and see if I'm able to enjoy that one more, because I really want to give her another chance! But I do not think anyone on earth should read Me, You, & the Conspiracy.

[Mads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was written on the plane and should therefore be taken with a grain of salt, which also accounts for the very informal and frankly annoying read, but I was very disappointed with the plot, characters, and overall flow as well as believability. A summary of what's below:

1. very one dimensional characters who didn't share chemistry and had an insta-love type feel to the romance (not to mention a wide array of side characters who did not appear once/showed up very few times but were brought up repeatedly for no purpose but making the mcs not look like absolute loners

2. strangely placed beliefs from the mmc that was 1) attempting and falling short of being feminist in a way that would redeem the character in the future and 2) completely pushed to the side in any sex scenes which made it odd to include them in the first place

3. a pretty large lack of representation (which while not required is a bit disappointing, especially for a book that takes place in a metropolitan area in Boston where people of all races and sexualities would be expected to be seen and interacted with). The only notable minority I can recall was a queer Jewish woman who was slightly integral to the plot but did not appear often

4. the plot and villains themselves were not compelling or realistic, leading to a lackluster culmination of events and disappointing climax as well as an extremely weak ending

5. overall, the book just felt rushed. I noticed some syntax/grammar errors, though those could be expected as I had an ARC edition, as well as a couple instances of telling rather than showing and a good amount of passive voice. The narration itself also just felt juvenile.

Despite my rather negative views of this book, I am still very grateful to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing me an E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.






Below is my original plane written review (CONTAINS SPOILERS):
i’m gonna start with negative bc negative is the first thing on my mind.

- it was so unbelievable omg like brother i knowwwww there ain’t no rising sun bs come on don’t play
- i really disliked cal as a character, he was really contradictory with his performative feminist takes at the beginning that paved way to some very strangely traditional and a little disgusting tbh
- jess was just not it icl her personality really got me
- THE VILLAINS WERE SO UNBELIEVABLE IT WAS GENUINELY CARTOON NIGHTMARE VILLAINS
- there were some syntax mistakes
- the prose felt a bit juvenile
- going back to not being realistic dawg every single thought that went through each characters head annoyed me so much
- the beauty and the beast reference really pissed me off, i really just get the ick when i see those in books and when ellis got compared to the beast uhm sir no??
- sylvie got brought up a couple times as jess’ bestie and we never saw her once nor did she ever speak a word
- its valid to include characters of all diaspora especially ones like jewish people experiencing antisemitism and queer people being ostracized for their personhood but there was literally no racial representation everyone was white
- the whole villain plot, to further explain, was literally so rushed. the thing about patrick was extremely easy to guess, but then the thing with the dad which was ALSO easy to guess was very rushed and we got pretty much no further reflection or inner turmoil from jess after finding out the man she has cared about so much of her life is a person that is literally persecuting her. realistically he wouldn’t have wanted to keep her around, the whole villain explaining their masterplan thing was so disney coded? idk it felt very juvenile writing and plot wise
- the book dated itself a lot with a bunch of references ie. “pandemic” “k-pop demon hunters” “yeet” that really could have been cut in my opinion
- a lot of the more solid aspects of the conspiracy still felt very vague and not fleshed out to me, and i was left confused and frustrated
- the smut was really ass and i skipped every scene (there were more than enough considering the short time the characters knew each other and it was all just a bit odd)
- i couldn’t tell if the jess ellis thing was meant to be like mentor/student father/daughter or cougar/girl.. that should be a clearly set line friend why was it foggy
- CALLLLLL I HATE CALLLLLLL CALLOWAY IS SUCH A BAD NAME AND HIS PERSONALITY WAS EVEN WORSE I KNOW THAT MAN ISNT FINE I KNOW I KNOW I KNOWWWW

ok now onto likes cuz i can’t be a negative nancy all day long
- ellis was cool for the most part, i like the mentor trope (negative for one moment he wasn’t the best mentor and he wasn’t fleshed out at all)
- no 3rd act breakup!!! it wasn’t so tropey that i couldn’t tolerate the plot at all
- relatively easy to read, despite my obvious gripes with the plot i got through the book maintaining a steady amount of interest
- i liked the facts that were mentioned throughout the book, they added to the little realism spots within the story
- the reflections on overworking in general and the commentary of teaching students who seem less and less interested in a topic you are passionate about were important and pretty well done
- the characters grew as people throughout the story and helped each other but not as much as i would have liked (by a long shot)
- adina was chill though i do wish she came into the story more cuz one of jess insecurities was making such a small impact on her students and not seeing adina a lot perpetuated that
- there were a couple of funny one liners and tongue in cheek joking that entertained me
- despite a lot of the darker themes and gore mentioned, the book maintained a very cozy and feel good read


Overall, the book was kind of just not it. it tried really hard to achieve two themes at one and i think that was where it really just fell apart because the author struggled to both tackle dual pov and keep the light flow of a romance and detective mystery at the same time and i'm just not impressed at all.

[Bethany Ames · Rating 3 out of 5]

I disliked this book for what it is and loved it for what it’s not. What I mean by that is I disliked it greatly as a romance, but would have loved it if it was a YA novel.

As a romance this book falls flat on its face. The “sexual tension” is very “tell and not show,” so it becomes hard to believe that these characters are attracted to each other. Like we are told over and over about how handsome the MMC is, but there’s almost nothing to say why other than a short - and rather generic - description at the beginning. Supposedly he has this amazing, visceral magnetic field, but there’s nothing backing it up other than the FMC saying “he’s got an amazing presence” at the beginning of their first meeting. The sex scenes were lackluster and could be completely removed from the story without it changing anything.

As a YA, I feel like this book would’ve been able to thrive. Remove the sex scenes (leave in a kiss at the end) and you’ve still got a great story. The reason I would move it down to YA from adult is because a lot of this book just felt juvenile. The main characters didn’t act or speak like you’d think people holding PhDs (or almost holding them) would talk about their topics of interest. Because the book was written for a broad audience it dumbs down the main characters to primarily surface-level knowledge you’d expect from people in their fields. Where one would expect a long discussion about symbology and Washington and rebellions within the Revolutionary Military you instead get “hey, it’s like this battle,” “oh yeah, I guess it is.” I think these kinds of conversations make more sense coming from younger people, and that they’d resonate better with a younger audience. I’ve seen some reviews already saying it’s too complex and goes over peoples heads, and to be honest I don’t know how you wouldn’t expect it to be more complex given the Da Vinci Code comparison the publisher has given it in the email I received containing this e-arc.

This isn’t me saying the book is bad, I quite enjoyed it. I just enjoyed it more when I aged down the characters in my head and told myself they couldn’t possibly have anything close to a Masters. Again, if you think of the book as a YA it hits every mark perfectly. The main characters work well together and the overarching story line was fun (if less fleshed out that I would’ve preferred for a novel trying to compare itself to the Da Vinci Code). I loved how the FMC had to step out of her self-imposed shell to work on a research project bigger than herself. The side characters were fun (Ellis was the perfect blend of paranoid conspiracy theorist and faux-grumpy-old-man) and fleshed out just enough that it wasn’t entirely weird for them to be in the book. The adventure was fun and reasonably high-steaks for the YA age range. You could even leave in them kissing at the end and have it be totally appropriate and believable. Heck, you could leave in a closed-door, implied sex scene in the book and it’d still be YA appropriate and wouldn’t change the book. At all.

One thing I really liked the concept of that could’ve been done a little better was the POV of the “bad guy.” We get it in the very beginning as they are planning to do something truly terrible and it’s a great thriller-esq moment. It is, however, not maintained throughout the book. Before we ever get another look in their head we know exactly who he is and what he wants, so by the time we get into their head a second time it’s no longer a shudder inducing moment but a “yeah, yeah, we get it,” kind of moment. Either it should’ve been the only moment we were in their POV, or we should’ve gotten more, with more sketchy/evil behavior.

At the end of the day this was a cute, quick read that reminded me of National Treasure. I think this book would be great if you want a more YA-middle grade written version where what matters isn’t the symbology, but the interpersonal relationships and mild character growth.

[Rebi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let’s start with the fact that I couldn’t finish this book fast enough. Sadly, I couldn’t finish it fast enough because I wanted to move on to another book. I found issues with this book when it came to flow, character creation/description, chemistry between these love interests, and what I thought this book was going to be.

Regarding the flow of the story: Where is the flow in this book to go from one thing to the next? I wouldn’t have minded if we shifted at the beginning of a new chapter, like an interlude, but what is this in the middle of a chapter, we’re following a whole new character, not once but twice? It was really confusing how we jumped to a character who we don’t know, which is fine to add mystery, but to do so in the middle of a chapter was unexpected and took me out of the world of the book. I think it would have been interesting if it was labeled or acted like it was the end of Act I and then we had this little interlude where we follower this killer, and then the beginning of Act II is where we go after the murder.

For character creation/description: For Jess, her character is pretty bland. It’s brought up that she’s a goody two shoes and she’s a family oriented person, but that’s clearly not the case based on how things are going in this book. She barely talks to her family and seems to want to avoid conversations with them even before she loses contact. She also doesn’t really do things to prove she’s a good two shoes, so why is it repeatedly said? Is it to sell me on something that isn’t the case based on her actions in the book from the beginning? Make me believe it. When it comes to Cal, he’s a bit of weirdo. His only thing going for him is that he had this big presentation and he’s now teaching in a place he doesn’t like. He likes his mom and stepdad, and that’s about it. Also, I get it. Cal is a laughing stock of the community. It’s been mentioned a lot to the point of annoying. I understand that it’s obviously a big part of his character, but it’s been established already, so it doesn’t need to be repeated so often for me to get the message. I got it the first time. He also has weird friends who also believe in the conspiracy which is great, since clearly this is something dangerous to believe in, but I wish we got to know those characters more as well. I’m not connecting to any of these characters in any emotional way because they aren’t well rounded characters. Why do I want to invest my time in reading about these characters?

I’m not sold on Jess and Calloway’s chemistry. They’re acting/thinking like horny teenagers who don’t really seem to mesh well together except for the fact that they both stumbled upon this weird secret and they’re stuck together. They also get angry at each other for the stupidest things and then it turns into let’s make out.

For whatever reason, I thought this would be a mystery book with a dash of romance. This is more of a romance book with a dash of mystery instead. I was hoping for something like National Treasure. I think parts of this book were also supposed to be come across as funny, but the jokes fell flat and came across as cringey.

Unfortunately, this was not a book for me.

I received an eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Case · Rating 3 out of 5]

You, Me, & the Conspiracy has a really fun premise, but I think I loved the direction it seemed to be heading a little more than where it ultimately ended up.

What interested me most wasn’t really the conspiracy itself. It was Jess and Cal. They’re both history teachers who care deeply about their students and about history, but they’re approaching the same profession from completely different places. Jess is still trying to earn the approval of academia after a professional setback shattered her confidence, while Cal has already been disenchanted in that system after presenting a conspiracy theory that got him laughed off. I loved that ideological tension between them and the questions it raised about truth, institutions, and what happens when the thing you’ve built your identity around lets you down.

The first part of the book was easily my favourite because it let those ideas breathe. Jess’s imposter syndrome and grief over losing her book gave the story a really strong emotional foundation, while Cal’s quiet cynicism and obvious love of teaching made him easy to root for. They both felt like the kind of professors I’d actually want to learn from and honestly just felt like real people outside of all the romance and conspiracy.

As the story went on, though, everything about their jobs, beliefs, and motivations slowly gave way to the danger and the conspiracy. The plot kept moving, but I felt like I was being dragged from clue to clue instead of following the characters. The ideological push and pull that I found so interesting early on mostly disappeared once the conspiracy became real.

The romance really didn’t do much for me either. They clearly liked each other from the beginning, so most of the tension came from both of them assuming the other was just better at pretending not to be thinking the other was hot. It felt pretty insta-love adjacent, and the relationship ended up feeling like a side plot that just kept coming back when a break was needed from all the conspiracy content.

I did appreciate what the book was trying to say about history. It raises interesting questions about who gets to shape the stories people inherit, how history becomes idealized, and even how education influences what we accept as truth. I just wish those ideas had stayed as nuanced as they felt in the beginning instead of becoming increasingly tied to the conspiracy itself. Especially as a non-American, the larger revelations about American history and its mythology felt more obvious and like duh? than the earth-shattering discoveries they were presented as.

Overall, I still enjoyed my time with this one. I just kept wishing the mystery had stayed in service of Jess and Cal rather than the other way around. Their personal journeys were what made me want to keep reading in the first place, and I never quite stopped hoping the story would circle back to them.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

[Brittney · Rating 4 out of 5]

You, Me, & the Conspiracy • Emma Barry

One phrase: history professors versus secret society 📚🕵️‍♀️

Smart, ambitious, and a little uneven.

You, Me, & the Conspiracy follows Jessica Wilson, a tenure track history professor trying to recover from a bruising book rejection and find something new to publish. While researching in the archives, she discovers a coded message from one of the founding fathers that could change the way people understand American history.

The only problem?

She has to prove it is real.

To do that, she turns to Calloway Morgan, a former Harvard PhD student turned adjunct professor whose theories about a shadowy revolutionary organization once sounded absurd.

Until Jess realizes he may have been right.

From there, the two are pulled into an academic conspiracy full of coded messages, secret societies, institutional power, danger, and a clandestine fraternity that is very much still active and very much willing to kill.

I went back and forth on this one a lot.

There were moments where I was completely pulled in and needed to know what was going to happen next. I loved the academic setting, the conversations around privilege and access, and the behind the scenes power structures shaping history and scholarship.

It has that dark, institutional, conspiracy driven energy that feels very Da Vinci Code, and I could absolutely see this working well as a TV series or movie.

The biggest sticking point for me was the amount of history woven into the plot. At times, it felt dense and assumed a level of knowledge I did not have anymore, which slowed the pacing down for me. I kept wanting more time with Jess and Cal and less time trying to keep track of the historical details.

Overall, this is a really interesting, idea driven story that did not fully land for me, but I can absolutely see it working for readers who love history heavy conspiracies and academic adventure romances.

✨ Tropes and vibes:
📚 academic romance
🕵️ secret society
🧩 coded messages
🏛 American history conspiracy
🎓 history professors
🔥 forced proximity investigation
👀 danger around every corner
💬 privilege and access
📰 publish or perish pressure
🖤 institutional secrets
🎥 movie adaptation vibes
✨ smart but uneven

📚 Read this if you like:
Academic settings, history heavy mysteries, secret societies, conspiracy thrillers, adventure romance, archival discoveries, Jo Segura vibes, and stories that feel like The Da Vinci Code went to grad school.

This was smart, ambitious, and full of big ideas, even if I wanted a little more character time and a little less historical density.

#YouMeAndTheConspiracy #EmmaBarry #AcademicRomance #MysteryRomance #BookReview @Atria

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

You, Me, & the Conspiracy by Emma Barry is an eclectic academic adventure romance that delivers everything it promises, perfectly blending U.S. history, fast-paced action, and an incredible romance.

The story follows Jessica Wilson, a tenure-track history professor who, after a bruising book rejection, is scrambling for a groundbreaking discovery to secure her spot at the top of the academic food chain. While researching in the archives, she uncovers a coded message written by Alexander Hamilton that has the power to change the world's understanding of American history forever.

Desperate to prove it's real, she seeks out Calloway Morgan, a Harvard PhD student turned adjunct professor. Cal was previously ousted from graduate school for presenting theories about a shadowy, revolutionary organization—theories Jess initially thought were absurd. Realizing their discoveries are intertwined, the duo heads to Boston to look for answers together.

What follows is a wild, fascinating, and wholly original concept that gives major National Treasure vibes, with just a hint of The Mummy romance thrown in. Jessica and Calloway are the perfect academic pairing, and watching their tension build while they try to unmask a deadly secret society is thrilling. The conspiracy theories are so convincing and deeply woven into the narrative that you will find yourself wanting to search all over Harvard for clues yourself.

Because the historical mysteries are so intricate, some passages require a careful reread, and having a strong memory of history class definitely enhances the experience. However, the complexity only adds to the realism of their academic chase.

The book keeps you on the edge of your seat with high-stakes danger, including an intense car chase that makes you feel like someone could be kidnapped at any moment. The clandestine fraternity they have uncovered is still very much active and ready to kill to keep its secrets hidden, forcing Jess and Cal to run for their lives.

As they race to make their findings public, the embers of their attraction explode into a brilliant romance. The spice is perfectly balanced so it never takes away from the plot, and the delightful bits of humor sprinkled throughout keep the tone light but exciting. Emma Barry has truly outdone herself with this five-star read, crafting a brilliant journey of mystery, survival, and love that is absolutely perfect for fans of Jo Segura.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you to Atria books and Net Galley for the ARC of You, Me, & the Conspiracy. From the moment I read the synopsis of this book-who doesn’t love a National Treasure-like mystery with kissing-I was pumped for this book, but I have to admit that my knowledge of early American history was not enough to “get” the conspiracy that is at the heart of it. Barry’s story centers on history professor Jess Wilson, who stumbles upon a coded message from Alexander Hamilton one day while digging through the archives for a new topic that she can publish on and then get a tenure-track job. When Wilson starts asking around about the secret society this coded message points to, she meets Cal Morgan- a former Harvard professor who has been shunned because of his attempt to expose this secret society and their involvement in some of the biggest conspiracies in American history. I will be vulnerable enough to admit that on more than one occasion, I had to look up historical events (Newburg Conspiracy, anyone?) that this apparent secret society was involved with because I wanted to understand why it was such a big deal. I also couldn’t wrap my head around the unevenness of the secret society’s attempt to keep their involvement secret: Cal does a whole presentation at an academic conference about their involvement in Washington’s presidency and publicly tries to expose them, yet he only gets ousted from Harvard and becomes a laughing-stock of Ivy League academia; however, Jess tells her advisor, Isla-in a private conversation-what she’s learned, and when Isla confirms it, the society feels the need to kill her and make it look like she died of natural causes because she “knows too much.” It just doesn’t feel consistent.
My other big issue with this novel was the pacing. Jess finds the secret coded message, which she doesn’t really even seem to understand, has one conversation with Cal and then Isla, and suddenly Isla is murdered and Cal and Jess are on the run. It seems like there should have been more build up and discovery before those things were set in motion. Additionally, parts of the book just felt too convenient- Jess happens to have an off-handed conversation with one of the main leaders of this society; the ease in which Cal and Jess gained necessary information: and the ease in which they found secret hideouts and treasure troves. It was just hard to believe overall.
With all that being said, the book had moments that sucked me in and made me what to know what was going to happen next, so I appreciate that.

[Rea ♡ㅤ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Emma Barry for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

If the chemistry and banter from Ali Hazelwood’s romance novels had a love child with the National Treasure franchise, it would be Emma Barry’s You, Me, & the Conspiracy. Does that make sense to anyone but me?

tropes:
-adventure romance
-treasure hunting
-historical mystery
-rivals to lovers
-academic setting

Jessica Wilson thought she had it made, until the book she spent years working on is rejected, and she’s left scrambling. Desperate to save her job as a tenure-track history professor, she takes to the archives to continue research. When her research takes her stumbling into coded messages and hints of a secret society, she turns to the only person she ever encountered that was brave enough to speak on in. Calloway Morgan.

Cal, kicked from Harvard after sharing his research on historic conspiracies, isn’t pleased when Jess brings trouble back to his front door. Cal isn’t left with many options when it becomes clear that this society isn’t only past tense, and its members not keen on being looked into. Cal and Jess are forced on an action packed adventure to uncover the truth about America’s history, or die trying.

This book has National Treasure vibes written all over it, and this is coming from someone who was obsessed with this movie from ages 12-14. (I have coloring pictures of Abigail Chase for reference upon request!) Calloway Morgan is the embodiment of Riley Poole in my heart, and I can promise you that’s exactly how I imagined him looking the whole time.

The history in this was surprisingly heavy. My history knowledge isn’t extensive, but it didn’t make this any less enjoyable. I didn’t need to understand every history fact to have a good time! The mystery solving and conspiracy cracking was so fun. Plus the plot twist at the end? That got me good. The romance in this was incorporated very well. Cal and Jess, coming from different backgrounds and into the same field, spent a lot of time discussing privilege and nepotism in the academic field, which was interesting to read about. It was almost like an opposites attract kind of thing. I found their relationship to be really well balanced with the action and mystery solving in the book.

Basically, if you like National Treasure (or Riley Poole) or good books, read this when it releases on 11/10/26!

[Izzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have officially reached the point in history where K-Pop Demonhunter is a pop culture reference mentioned in published works. Similarly, the word "yeet" is apparently part of daily writing vocabulary. My Insta feed has somehow made it into my books, which makes for quite a culture shock.

Fortunately for us, these words don't add/take away from the reading experience. Which is a good thing, as there's quite an experience to be found here.

As a George Washington hater myself (i have written far too many papers on that man), I'd like to say this book holds a very special place in my heart by agreeing with me in the most strange and suspicious manner possible. Cal's conspiracy theory somehow made sense, which is kind of scary if you think about it. However, I'm proud to say that I never doubted my man Thomas Paine and his wonderfully ineffective ability to exist during the French Revolution.

Thanks to that (very smooth) transition, I am now free to talk (when was i not) about the plot. Which was such a breath of fresh air because FINALLY there's a book where luck doesn't seem to hate the MCs at all time! And they do have strokes of rare, good luck but also moments of horrible, depressing luck, just to balance everything out.

The mystery was exactly that: mysterious. Which is kind of a stupid thing to say, but something worth saying all the same. Everything certainly made sense, just not in the manner that the reader expects. The happenings were wonderfully almost random, but again! made sense! Thank God for Jess's terrible faculty!

The plot twist was pretty anti-climatic, as it doesn't really do anything to the story. I feel like after the entire ordeal, Jess would've managed to come up at the same conclusion regardless.

As for the romance... The TENSION? There was so much tension that Isaac Newton himself would need to come in to calculate it (haha physics reference who has the misfortune of getting it!). For half the book I was essentially screaming "KISS, KISS, KISS", but because it was just so fucking slow burn, NOTHING was happening. Which is good, because the slow burn was written so well.

Also if Cal was my history professor I'd never skip class.

(if youre my american history professor id like to say ive never skipped class in my life)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[Amy (amysbooked) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review: In theory, this book should have been perfect for me. The email said "National Treasure, Indiana Jones, The Mummy." That should have been my absolute perfect book. And yet. AND YET. First, I completely acknowledge that this is an ARC, so there are still edits to be done. HOWEVER. This ARC had more typos and inaccuracies than any ARC I have ever received. Even still, I could look past that. My issue is that there are writing, story, and development issues that a few more rounds of edits won't fix. There were so many moments that this book was both way too slow and way too fast. Pace? There was none. This was like doing a sprint workout with random intervals. Just absolutely no strategy to the pacing. There were also so many times that the author was telling us, not showing us about the story. Don't tell me that this super secret conspiracy has been going on for centuries, show me. Don't throw incredibly detailed lists about historical events and not tell me what a single one is (and I'm a history buff). You can clearly tell that the romance was the biggest focus in this book, which fair, but that doesn't mean the conspiracy part should be given no attention or half@ssed (sorry). This is the kind of book that makes me devastated because this was such a cool concept and such awful, awful execution and now no one else can really take up the helm. ALSO, just a really big pet peeve of mine: there were SO many pop culture references. So many that they felt like references for reference sake. Also, as a fellow female academic, I could not have felt less connected to Jess.

Synopsis: After a bruising book rejection, tenure-track history professor Jessica Wilson is scrambling for something new to publish to secure her spot at the top of the academic food chain. While researching in the archives, she discovers a coded message written by one of the founding fathers with the power to change her—and the world’s—understanding of American history forever. But first, she’s got to prove it’s real.

Desperate for answers, Jess searches out Calloway Morgan, a Harvard PhD student turned adjunct professor. Cal was forced to leave graduate school after presenting theories about a shadowy revolutionary organization. Jess heard his conference presentation and thought his findings were absurd, but now, she believes he was onto something.

With their fates intertwined by their discoveries, the two begin to work together, but danger lurks around every corner. The clandestine fraternity that they’ve uncovered still exists and is ready to kill. With it hot on their heels, the embers of Jess and Cal’s attraction grow. But unless they can make their findings public, they’ll soon become the conspiracy’s latest victims...

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book. I was so excited when I saw the cover and read the description, academic conspiracies and romance? Sign me up.
Sadly, the book just did not do it for me. I want to be as objective as possible because I do think this book has potential!
First off the pacing in the first 48% of the book was incredibly slow, we (the readers) don't even get a clear idea of what the "conspiracy" could be even though Cal supposedly gave a talk detailing and laying it all out. The FMC, Jessica, finds some paper of some vague significance and that's what prompts her to go meet up with Cal. He then tells her it's dangerous, because.... he was fired (?) again everything is too vague that it becomes almost boring. Why are we not clearly laying out the conspiracy right from the start if Cal supposedly gave some talk all about it that made him an academic laughing stalk.
Also, this book requires way too much assumed knowledge from the reader about American politics-- specifically the founding fathers. It again just makes the reading experience a bit clunky, and I'm someone who loves history and knows a fair bit of it-- I can't imagine what this would be like for someone who didn't grow up being educated in the US or who didn't have a niche history interest.
Then suddenly, things escalated drastically but again as the reader there really is no explanation as to why. Why is Jessica suddenly in danger but Cal who gave a public speech isn't? No need to explain why the academic advisor was killed, I think it's smarter to reveal later but it's silly to make Jessica and Cal not immediately clued into the fact that she clearly died as a result of this group.
What is this secret society doing an what is their goal? Even as you continue to read, things don't clear up and in fact I would say at times the goal of the secret society conflicts.
Next, besides the pacing issues and the lack of a clear goal, the romance was too insta love for me. I actually think this is one of those times when the story would benefit from more action and less romance at least romance that's so insta. I much prefer two people slowly getting to know each other and learning to care for the other than these depictions of "wow that girl's banging!".
Again, I wanted to love this book but it was just not for me.

[onlyhereforthehea · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️.5/5

If you’re a fan of movies like National Treasure and Indiana Jones and enjoy your romances with a side of academic nerds, mystery, and intrigue, You, Me & the Conspiracy might be exactly what you’re looking for.

This story follows Jess, a professor trying to secure tenure, and Cal, a fellow academic, as they team up to uncover a conspiracy tied to America’s history and a secret society determined to keep the truth buried. Along the way, they find themselves chasing clues, dodging danger, and growing closer in the process.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. Jess and Cal were easy to root for, and I liked watching their relationship develop alongside the mystery. The conspiracy aspect was definitely the highlight for me and gave the story a fun National Treasure type feel.

My biggest issue was the amount of historical information packed into the first 20-30% of the story. I completely understand why it was necessary to establish the conspiracy, but there were times when the sheer volume of names, places, and historical details made it difficult to keep everything straight. Instead of pulling me further into the mystery, I occasionally found myself trying to piece together who, when, where, and why. While I appreciated the research behind it, that heavier setup slowed the pacing for me and ultimately kept this from being rated higher. Once Jess and Cal actually started following clues, uncovering secrets, and getting pulled deeper into the conspiracy, I found myself much more invested.

In the end, while the way some of the historical information was presented didn’t always work for me, I liked Jess and Cal, enjoyed the mystery, and thought the conspiracy elements made for a unique reading experience. Their romance was sweet, and I enjoyed watching them grow closer as they worked together to unravel the conspiracy. If you enjoy secret societies, academic romances, and historical mysteries with a sweet love story at the center, this one is worth checking out.


🌟Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read and provide my honest review.