"Exciting Americana"

In 1876 in Niobrara City, Nebraska, railroad owner Reese Carrison leads the town in celebrating the completion of his Nebraska Dakota Railroad line. His best friend Bram Kaldwell also appears accompanied by his widowed daughter, Rebecca Ann and his granddaughter Margaret. Reese plans to ask Rebecca to marry him because he wants a wife and family. He is not opposed to using Margaret as a tool to that end by insisting the rambunctious child needs the strong hand of a father. However, Reese admits to himself that he does not love the steady Rebecca Ann.

A group of Gypsies arrive during the gala event, but one of the band, Liza, is charged with attempting to abduct Margaret. Liza flees on Reese's horse and he quickly follows, but soon a monster storm with a tornado threatens the lives of both. Liza hates the Gaje as her people call the whites after what her biological father did to her mother, but to her chagrin finds she is attracted to Reese. He reciprocates those unwanted feelings even knowing that Rebecca Ann is better suited as his wife.

Readers who enjoy an exciting western romance that brings the era to life through two engaging lead protagonists and a powerful support cast will want to read LADY GYPSY. The audience will feel the prejudice that the Gypsies felt and how easy the sons and daughters on both sides learn to hate, but will wonder how Liza could trust any Gaje. Still love conquers all in Pam Crook's winning novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 13, 2001

Summary

When an exotic Gypsy with flowing red tresses steals Reese Carrison's prized stallion, he gallops after her--straight into a tornado. It is not the twister that threatens to ravage him, though, but the woman who tames his horse. For in the eye of the storm, her soothing touch incites a whirlwind of passion he is helpless to resist. Liza longs only to escape the hated world of the non-Gypsy--the Gaje. Instead she finds herself wrapped in the sheltering embrace of a powerful Gajo man--a man who incites traitorous desires. A man whose sensuality strips away her defenses and whose caresses touch down on her heart, leaving in their wake not destruction, but love. A love that says she belongs in his arms, a love that makes her his Lady Gypsy.