Brake levers designed for cantilever brakes (and I hear 'mini' v-brakes as well) will pull a road caliper just fine. However, brake levers designed for regular v-brakes won't, due to different amounts of cable travel.

If I remember properly... road brake levers with v-brakes won't pull enough cable, so your lever bottoms out before the brake pads engage enough, and v-brake levers with road brakes pull too much cable, making it way easy to rocket yourself over the bars and take a header.