The Seer's Choice is a novella featuring minor character's from Cheney's Golden City trilogy that takes place during the same time period as The Shores of Spain. While Oriana and Duilio are busy in the Sereia Islands and Marina and Joaquim are running around Spain, Genoveva is coming to terms with the discovery of her true paternity in The Seat of Magic. Her mother's husband was bad enough, but it turned out that her real father was an actual monster. So now she works for the police as a healer, trying to use her unwanted gift for the public good. But it seems that someone has decided to come after her, and he has powerful magic on his side. No one in her unit of special police has ever seen anything like it, which does not bode well for Genoveva's future. Luckily, she has friends in magically talented places, and together they may be able to get to the bottom of things after all.

This is basically the follow-up to Raphael getting all touched about Duilio and Genoveva in The Seat of Magic. It's a fun return to the mystery-based plots of the first two books of the trilogy, but darker and much more adult with discussions of things like birth control and whether or not to have children. But then again, both protagonist have legitimate reasons not to want to pass on their genes. I'm not sure I'd hand this one to a teen looking to move beyond YA the way I would the actual trilogy, but if you want more Golden City, you can certainly find it here. ( )

I love the Golden City series, and this novella is a perfect addition to the fantasy trilogy set in 1903 Portugal. It really feels like a condensed version of the full novels with mystery, danger, and a romance with delightful chemistry. ( )