The Latent Psychic: A Tarot Card Mystery #1 by Ashley Carrillo

3 out of 5 stars

Tasha Costerman finds a deck of Tarot cards on sale when her roommate Lauren and her visit their favorite book store. She thought it would be something to do on a Saturday night. But when they get them home and decide to try them out on a reading for Tasha, their normal, un-exciting lives change. Her cards reveal a death, a scandal and her own latent psychic abilities. An accidental death at work she "knows" is more than an accident. When the police say it's just an accident Tasha decides she needs to investigate to prove it was a murder and her main suspect is the handsome new forklift driver, Knox. But even Lauren thinks she's nuts, not psychic.

This was a short (about 99 pages), quick read. I got it free through Kindle. There were quite a few grammar errors and the story was very rushed, but overall it was actually enjoyable. I do think the author could have built up the mystery a little more and there were things that could have been omitted since they didn't really add to the story much. I would never have guessed the killer because I don't think he was even introduced until the reveal, but I could be wrong on that. There were quite a few characters whose names all started with the same letter so I could have missed it. If you can handle the bad grammar, it's not a bad book if you are looking for a quick read.

Here is a link to get yourself a copy from Amazon:
The Latent Psychic

The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Spreads by Liz Dean

5 out of 5 stars.

I won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I have had an interest in tarot cards for a long time. I have a few decks, each one I bought myself and was drawn to. I also bought a couple books to help me get an understanding of how to read them. Most of these books were well written and had lots of information, but as a novice, they still seemed to be geared towards someone who already had a feel for tarot or who had worked with them many times already and kind of knew what they were doing. Now, I know your own intuition is important when reading, but someone new to card reading still needs a starting place and although I am not knocking these books by any means, they just didn’t seem to click with me.

While entering giveaways on Goodreads, I saw this one and decided to enter. I was excited when I got the notification that I was a winner (I always get excited when I win books). It arrived almost immediately and when I opened the package, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it a beautiful book, but it was exactly what I had been looking for! The amount of information in it was far more in depth than any other book I had on the subject. It also simplified things and gave more options of spreads than I had ever seen, going into detail as to which type of spread goes best with what type of questions or purpose. The other part I like is that it doesn’t just talk of the card in terms of what you drew, but also what symbols and colors are present in them and what they mean. It helps to get a feel for them a little more.

But the best part for me was the examples. Examples are my best friend! The author would do the spread, layout the cards, and then tell you how she is reading them based on what she drew. This is something I have found lacking in some other books I have looked at on the subject. It really helps people like me get a general idea of how to read the cards as a whole rather than just individually, something I struggle with the most. In addition to examples, she also provides little tips here and there to assist.

The book also has some quick reference guides on card meanings and symbols. These are extremely helpful and give just enough detail without overwhelming the reader. There is also a reading list of other books that may be of interest on the subject of tarot as well as other things. I have a strong feeling that I will be relying on this book heavily as I try to work with my cards more and get a better knack for reading them. I am so glad I won this book!

Available on Amazon at the link below:
The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Spreads