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Charm City
On the streets of inner city Baltimore, loyalty means more than love. Raq Overstreet has pledged her loyalty to Ice Taylor, the drug kingpin who made her a star. The cheers Raq receives during the underground boxing matches she excels in almost make up for the hardships she has to endure as she establishes her reputation as the most intimidating enforcer in Ice’s crew. Almost.
Raq’s growing feelings for Bathsheba Morris put her loyalty to the test. For the first time, she allows herself to dream of a life different from her own. But Raq’s dream could turn into a nightmare if she discovers Bathsheba is not the naïve newcomer she claims to be but an undercover cop trying to infiltrate Ice’s organization in order to bring him and everyone who works for him to justice.
Raq’s growing feelings for Bathsheba Morris put her loyalty to the test. For the first time, she allows herself to dream of a life different from her own. But Raq’s dream could turn into a nightmare if she discovers Bathsheba is not the naïve newcomer she claims to be but an undercover cop trying to infiltrate Ice’s organization in order to bring him and everyone who works for him to justice.
- GenresRomance
264 pages, Paperback
First published August 17, 2014
4 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Mason Dixon
14 books11 followersMason Dixon lives, works, and plays somewhere in the South. She and her partner enjoy grilling, traveling, and fighting for control of the remote.
Mason Dixon is a pen name of Yolanda Wallace.
Mason Dixon is a pen name of Yolanda Wallace.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 24, 2014
I'm not a law-abiding person. I think it's my duty to shape my behavior based on my own moral and ethical code, rather than the one put into place by the government. So when I read a blurb that tells me a book's about a criminal and an undercover cop, I wonder which character I'm going to like. If either.
In Charm City, the primary point of view is Raq. She's the woman on the street, doing what she needs to do to get by and hoping she'll get ahead based on her talent and hard work in the boxing ring. She's drawn some lines in her life, set some boundaries between what she will and won't do, that may look arbitrary or hypocritical. What I see is a person like most of us, in the grip of forces we try to resist wherever we can. Trying to control how much we give in to the people and institutions around us while making use of them where they may be helpful.
In her case, the force she's resisting and using is her relationship with a street boss. He's rich from distributing drugs and running the street sales, plus sidelines like boxing. Even he is shown as human in this, though brutal and unpredictable. She doesn't believe in much, but loyalty is a watchword for her and he's the one she's loyal to.
I like Raq. I like her pragmatism and her desire, her jump in instincts and her qualm.
The other side of this love story is Bathsheba. We find out quickly that she's an undercover cop back in the city of her childhood, on the same streets she came from. Her point of view is less commanding for me, in part because she's pretty socially acceptable. She picked a side a long time ago. She does, though, act from a place of caring and gets deep fast with Raq.
So yeah, I like Bathsheba. I don't think I'd ever trust her fully, and that is the only quibble I have with the trajectory of this book. Raq basically jumps all in - which fits her personality pretty well, actually - and it's because love.
I disagree that love and trust are the same thing, that they happen simultaneously, or that feeling one should make you act like the other will develop. So as much as I enjoyed getting to know these people and seeing how they respond to the dangers and horrifying acts they face, I would have liked to see more of the process that brought them to trust each other - the criminal and the cop.
In Charm City, the primary point of view is Raq. She's the woman on the street, doing what she needs to do to get by and hoping she'll get ahead based on her talent and hard work in the boxing ring. She's drawn some lines in her life, set some boundaries between what she will and won't do, that may look arbitrary or hypocritical. What I see is a person like most of us, in the grip of forces we try to resist wherever we can. Trying to control how much we give in to the people and institutions around us while making use of them where they may be helpful.
In her case, the force she's resisting and using is her relationship with a street boss. He's rich from distributing drugs and running the street sales, plus sidelines like boxing. Even he is shown as human in this, though brutal and unpredictable. She doesn't believe in much, but loyalty is a watchword for her and he's the one she's loyal to.
I like Raq. I like her pragmatism and her desire, her jump in instincts and her qualm.
The other side of this love story is Bathsheba. We find out quickly that she's an undercover cop back in the city of her childhood, on the same streets she came from. Her point of view is less commanding for me, in part because she's pretty socially acceptable. She picked a side a long time ago. She does, though, act from a place of caring and gets deep fast with Raq.
So yeah, I like Bathsheba. I don't think I'd ever trust her fully, and that is the only quibble I have with the trajectory of this book. Raq basically jumps all in - which fits her personality pretty well, actually - and it's because love.
I disagree that love and trust are the same thing, that they happen simultaneously, or that feeling one should make you act like the other will develop. So as much as I enjoyed getting to know these people and seeing how they respond to the dangers and horrifying acts they face, I would have liked to see more of the process that brought them to trust each other - the criminal and the cop.
September 18, 2014
I really enjoyed this. Raq is an underground boxer and lookout/enforcer for a drug lord. Bathsheba is an undercover cop trying to take the whole organization down. This is a hard-edged look at Baltimore, with pitch perfect regional flair. The writing is very good and the characters are smart. There are a few tripping points--Bathsheba could have taken down Ice earlier, after witnessing a brutal crime, and the finale fight was a bit over the top. But I was entertained throughout. This is a sweet romance despite the gritty setting. Well done.
September 24, 2014
Nice trip to the 'hood
This was a fun read, despite the violence of the drug dealing and ruthless kingpin. Great lead character and blossoming love, rich in detail as the story builds and progresses.Nicely written and good flow.
This was a fun read, despite the violence of the drug dealing and ruthless kingpin. Great lead character and blossoming love, rich in detail as the story builds and progresses.Nicely written and good flow.
December 14, 2014
Interesting premise and dialogue straight from the Wire.
However, felt slightly 2 dimensional and could have done with more depth of plot and characterisation.
However, felt slightly 2 dimensional and could have done with more depth of plot and characterisation.
June 14, 2025
Found this book in a Little Free Library while exercising and figured I may as well multitask with a little walk-and-read.
Baltimore (which I suspect author "Mason Dixon" has never been to, given the flimsy name drops of a couple of streets, Maryland crabs, and not much else associated with it) and the criminal underworld herein are presented in a hyper-sanitized manner, where cursing and other unsavory acts are kept to a minimum. Sorry, but if you're not dropping a "fuck" and a racial slur in every other sentence, you're not accurately representing murderous drug dealers from the inner city. The violence is also kept pretty light, the boxing segments are soft on action and the one instance of actual criminal violence brief. I understand that a lesbian romance novel is probably not the place for that sort of thing, which is a complete failure of the premise and setting. Don't set a book in a drug kingpin's enterprise if you're going to Disnify it, there's no law that says because the characters are black they have to be street criminals, just make the whole thing about boxing instead. The romance itself is kind of bland and rushed, which also applies to the one sex scene, and the overarching story was too predictable.
Baltimore (which I suspect author "Mason Dixon" has never been to, given the flimsy name drops of a couple of streets, Maryland crabs, and not much else associated with it) and the criminal underworld herein are presented in a hyper-sanitized manner, where cursing and other unsavory acts are kept to a minimum. Sorry, but if you're not dropping a "fuck" and a racial slur in every other sentence, you're not accurately representing murderous drug dealers from the inner city. The violence is also kept pretty light, the boxing segments are soft on action and the one instance of actual criminal violence brief. I understand that a lesbian romance novel is probably not the place for that sort of thing, which is a complete failure of the premise and setting. Don't set a book in a drug kingpin's enterprise if you're going to Disnify it, there's no law that says because the characters are black they have to be street criminals, just make the whole thing about boxing instead. The romance itself is kind of bland and rushed, which also applies to the one sex scene, and the overarching story was too predictable.
July 3, 2020
Undercover ops & female boxers
Its unique & captivating storyline, spectacular in its complexity, fluidity & intensity creates a very compelling & entertaining book. With a nice flowing effortless progression, engaging narrative incorporating such formidably vulnerable & passionately flawed characters made it an easy read.
Continuing with a good, entertaining story with interesting characters & hot sex scenes extremely well written… your only thought is—What's gonna come next?
Its unique & captivating storyline, spectacular in its complexity, fluidity & intensity creates a very compelling & entertaining book. With a nice flowing effortless progression, engaging narrative incorporating such formidably vulnerable & passionately flawed characters made it an easy read.
Continuing with a good, entertaining story with interesting characters & hot sex scenes extremely well written… your only thought is—What's gonna come next?
August 25, 2017
Quite enjoyable and immersive. Solid, well-developed, and thought-provoking characters and plot. More focused on the characters and the very real issues facing them than the sex, which is just how I like it. The fact that they took it slow and there was a lot of talk meant I was more invested. The ending did wrap up a little too neatly, but not so much that it's a bother. I'll definitely be checking out other titles the author did under this pen name. It was nice to see romance between two Black women.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews