A Charming Touch of Tarot

• Author: Melissa Holtz
• Genre: Cozy Mystery
• Publication Date: May 13, 2025
• Publisher: Berkley
• Series: The Gin & Tarot Club #2

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Four friends discover that their new magical skills may not be enough to save them from a stalker hell-bent on turning their lives upside down.

Alyssa, Nina, Lanie, and Corinne’s friendship is being put to the test. With Nina’s marriage falling apart, Lanie acting distant, Alyssa’s new romance, and no one quite trusting Corinne, this may be more than their bond can take. But when Nina appears at Alyssa’s door, and confesses not just a decades-old secret, but a newfound magical power, the friends know that the only way to face this is together.

Someone has been blackmailing Nina for years, but lately the threats to reveal her secret have changed to threats on her life, and on the lives of those she loves. With Alyssa contacting ghosts for insight and Nina getting used to her telepathy skills, they dash from city to city to track down the threat. There’s someone out there that will go to any lengths to keep their control over Nina, and it will take all four friends to get out of this without ruining, or losing, their lives. But with the strength of their friendship—and a little help from the beyond—these women are out to prove they’re not to be messed with.

If Hallmark ever branched into paranormal territory, they’d be grabbing up this series faster than … I don’t know, but really fast. When I was approved for an ARC of this book, I discovered that it was book 2 of a series, and was able to get an audiobook from my library of the first book. I really enjoyed the first one, and was excited to see where the series was heading. 

One of my favorite parts of the story is how most of the major characters in the story are in their forties. Each of the club members is in a very different place in their lives, yet they all manage to come together and be supportive of each other. This is one of the coziest aspects of the story, with the friends having a really cool bond between them. Alyssa, Nina, and Lanie are long-term friends, and Corinne is a bit of a prickly new addition to the group, younger than the rest. This book let me feel like I got to know the characters a lot better, as they’re all dealing with issues.

Nina is going through an ugly divorce, Alyssa is just emerging on the other side of grief after her husband died suddenly, Lanie … had something going on, and we don’t really get to know much about Corinne yet, but I’m looking forward to learning more about her. As if that isn’t enough, there are still the paranormal talents to get used to: Alyssa’s being able to see ghosts, and now Nina’s new telepathy talent. 

On top of all of that, Alyssa keeps seeing ghosts that clearly have a message for her, but she can’t quite figure out what these messages are. Although there is one ghost whose presence made me laugh a lot of the time, even as I already predicted that they would creating issues. More importantly, there are unsolved mysteries piling up at the police station, and they’re clearly related in some way to these cases, if Alyssa can just figure out what the ghosts are trying to tell her.

I really enjoyed the romance growing between Alyssa and her hot detective boyfriend. They are really developing more than just attraction, but also a great friendship, which is a pretty good way to create a romance that feels natural and realistic. Things are moving slowly, and the romance is closed door, so it actually feels like watching a relationship develop, as opposed to insta-love or something out of convenience. Both Alyssa and Nick are building on a foundation of honesty, cooperation, respect, and vulnerability, and I am enjoying seeing this blossom. 

While I loved the romance aspect of the book, I especially appreciated the way that it didn’t overshadow the other aspects of the story, including the friendships and the mysteries. And yes, I did say ‘mysteries,’ because there are several of them in this book. Initially, it was a little bit confusing, but after I got everything situated in my head, I was fully invested. The story is a little slow in the beginning as it sets up all these different questions—what’s up with the ghosts? What are they trying to tell Alyssa? What the heck is going on with Lanie? Who is blackmailing Nina and why? What is happening with the missing girl?—but it does pick up the pace around 25% of the way in, and things move at a pretty fast pace from there to the end.

Overall, I really had a good time with this one. It’s fun, funny, the perfect mix of light-hearted and serious, has the sweetest romance, and what is giving me younger Golden Girls vibes. The author sensitively deals with grief, various types of loss, and still manages to feel light as a whole. Plot twists were a bit predictable, but I kind of like that in my cozy mysteries sometimes—it makes it a fluffy read that doesn’t involve too much overthinking, and it really allowed me to focus more on the different aspects of the story that have been developing over the course of the series. This was a great read, and if you’re a fan of cozies, this is one to check out for sure! 

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