Leigh's review posted on Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews 
 3.5 STARS 
 Review copy provided for an honest review 
 I was really excited to read this book when I saw the description. Hot DEA Agent? Check. BDSM retreat? Check. A heroine, who was a switch, getting together with a Dom? Not my usual fare, but bring it on! Unfortunately, I don't feel that I got all that I had hoped the book would deliver. 
 Committed was, without a doubt, a well-written book. I have not read anything by Ms. Bristol before, and she is certainly a talented writer. But, something just wasn't holding my attention. Starting out with an extended erotic play scene that dominated the first few chapters, I was settling in for a steamy introduction to the book. But for me, it just kind of fizzled. I didn't feel a real connection to either of the characters during the sex scenes, and my mind would start to wander. I found myself putting the book down a number of times simply because I wasn't sinking in to the story. I was too aware of my actual surroundings and not falling into the book so I was right there with the characters. 
 I was also disappointed by the lack of "switchiness" that Poppy exhibited. Part of the allure of this story for me was that added twist, watching a Dom try to take the part of a submissive if it was what his sub needed. But in reading the story, I just didn't feel that I got that. Poppy's switch tendencies were mentioned numerous times, but other than on one occasion, never really acted upon. 
 On the plus side, I did enjoy the characters themselves, even if I didn't feel the sparks between them, and the underlying story was a good one. I felt that several of the characters introduced were being set up to be main characters in future books, and again, they seemed human and likeable enough to make me want to hear their stories. 
 One thing I do want to mention about Committed is that it did give me an opportunity to stop and think...before this book, whether accidentally or due to a lack of diversity in erotic fiction heroes out there, I don't think I had picked up a book where the hero wasn't white. To be honest, I wasn't aware that Damien wasn't Caucasian until he made a comment halfway through the book, asking someone "Are you sure your attack dog won't go for a black man?" Confused, I went back to the beginning of the story to find a description of Damien and saw one reference to him having the "dark, creamy complexion of someone with a mixed ethnic background." Not that it truly matters to me how an author describes a hero, because they always wind up looking like Joe Manganiello in the movie playing in my mind, but I was disappointed to have missed that and possibly have missed some other nuance of their relationship. Again, I am chalking that up to the fact that there was something about the story that just didn't drag me in and envelop me, but I appreciated the diversity that this story portrayed in its main characters. 
 Committed was a solid book. The story itself was well written and the characters were human and diverse. I just wish there was more of a spark to pull me in.