Review: Romantic Charmer
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 20, 2013
In South Dakota, in the late  1800s, a saloon owner's daughter, Sahara, is taken by a band of roving gypsies after her father loses her as a gambling wager. She awakens to discover that she is in the midst of a gypsy kumpani, traveling by caravan.Nicolae, son of the Rom Baro, of the Machwarja Vista's kumpani was a dark mystery to Sahara. But, one who looked deep into her soul. If she could leave, she had no money, no skills, no home, and nowhere to go."Your father may have gambled you away, S'hara. But that does not mean that you cannot be happy. The traveling life is a happy life. We are a family, a tribe of people that love and care for one another. I will make you happy, S'hara, " Nicolae said. He gave her a gold chain with a gemstone the color of the midnight sky. She had heard they were all thieves. Maybe this too, had been stolen. Each day she tried to adapt to the gypsy life. Nicolae made love to her. She wiggled in newfound ecstasy.The Rom Baro was dying. Everyone wore black. The women trolled their tongues, wailing, crying loudly. Sahara was a gadjo-gypsy. Rom Baro' s power had been handed down to Nicolae. Sahara bore his daughter, Lea.  Nicolae knew instinctively that she would be feisty and wild. Now they would have a slava, with bottles of rakiya, music and dancing to celebrate.This is a compelling story about the traveling roamers, their life style, and the mystical lure their nomadic lives held for others. Labeled as misfits and thieves, they held the mystery of healing, and the knowledge of human nature close, inside their heads, hands and hearts.