Dancing in the Shadows of Love by Judy Croome

Description: Lulu is different to others. Once, she believed, she had a friend to love her. Then that friend betrayed her and Lulu learned that hate is safer than love. When she begins her new life at the Court of St Jerome in the Old Sea City, she finds people who must fight their personal demons of hatred, ambition and greed. Embraced in St Jerome's fold, Lulu learns to trust again, perhaps even to love.

Nothing, however, is as it seems and Lulu discovers that love doesn't always wear the face of the one you yearn to call beloved.

Lyrical and atmospheric, buoyed by touches of magical realism, this compelling story explores the sacrifices people make in the pursuit of their dreams. Lulu's quest, and that of Jamila and Zahra too, is to find the divine love that will fulfil their hopes and save their souls...if they can recognise the masks of those who seek to lead them astray.
                                                                                ~From Goodreads.com

Review: I really liked this book. This book was sent to me for free from the author's giveaway on goodreads.com. A lot of the book is about a religion that the author created, but it's very much like Christianity from what I gathered. Even if you are not very religious, I would definitely recommend this book. There are a lot of thought-provoking ideas in this book, including ones about human relationships, outcasts, and, of course, love.
     Judy Croome is excellent at writing descriptions, as they are beautiful to read and paints an image in the reader's mind. They are very detailed, but not so detailed as to bore the reader so he or she ends up scanning the rest of it. Every little detail is relevant to either the plot or the ideas behind it.
     This is a good summer read because it's one of those books that has you thinking about it even while you are not reading it. I did not want to put this book down, so it was nice to read all day when I had nothing that needed to be done until I finished reading. One thing I definitely loved about this book, in addition to what I've already mentioned, was the Shakespeare quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I took a Shakespeare class in my last semester of high school, so I liked being able to recognize the quotes and what they refer to later in each chapter of this book.
     I would like to thank Judy Croome for doing the goodreads.com book giveaway, as I enjoyed this book very much, and would not have found it if not for that. I do not know if this book is available in stores, but if you would like to purchase it, it can be bought here: http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Shadows-Love-Judy-Croome/dp/0987009044.