The Crystal Fragments Trilogy

The Crystal Fragments Trilogy #1-3

by M.J. Lawless

All three volumes of the Crystal Fragments Trilogy, including:

Fractured Crystal: Sapphires and Submission
Fragile Crystal: Rubies and Rivalries
Refracted Crystal: Diamonds and Desire

When the heart is stronger than stone.

This brings together all three Crystal Fragments books into one volume. When Kris Avelar runs away from another failed love affair to an isolated cottage in Scotland, her desire to be alone is nothing compared to that of the stranger she meets: Daniel Logan. Tall, handsome, but also scarred by more than the marks which line his face, his attempts to push her away only inspire her to greater curiosity about him - a curiosity that will lead to dark and forbidden desires as she enters his private world.

As she discovers that this mysterious stranger is actually Daniel Stone, the charming and urbane founder of Stone Enterprises, she seeks to discover more about him - just as he becomes increasingly obsessed with her. Yet if Kris is the most perfect lover that Daniel has known since the death of his wife, she is not the first, and others will seek to come between the two of them and their happiness.

When Daniel is caught up by his own dangerous past, Kris sets out to save him and to show that while everyone else will turn against him, she is determined never to let him down - or let him go. It is at that time that she discovers that her own submission, what she has thought of as a weakness inside her, is actually the source of her greatest strength.


Length: 230,000 words (circa 650 pages)

Genres: Romance, Erotica

648 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2012

About the author

M. J. Lawless has worked as a journalist for over a decade, and in the past five years has pursued freelance work for a number of publications. More recently, she has turned her hand to writing contemporary romance fiction, with her trilogy, Crystal Fragments, having been published in 2012. She also writes non-erotic fiction as Miriam Lawless.

She lives in the south west of England with her husband and two children.

You can also find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MJLawlessAuthor

Reviews

[SueBee★bring me an alpha!★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★! The Crystal Fragments, Book 1-3 (complete series). Impressive, captivating & intriguing w/ a super sexy alpha male.

Book 1 is FREE until June 13th, 2013. Please note series is complete!
http://www.amazon.com/Fractured-Cryst...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractured-Cry...

Wow! What a debut by M.J. Lawless. I came across this trilogy while looking at Susan Johnson’s (aka C.C. Gibbs’) latest contemporary romance recently released in the UK. This series looked promising based on the description and the fact that the complete series was available was a huge plus in this “Everything trilogy” era. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy trilogies/series as it allows the author to explore the characters in depth and spin a rollercoaster story. I just don’t like to read book 1 only to have to wait months and months and months to read book 3.

The Crystal Fragments Trilogy - you can either purchase the three books separately or the most recently released Omnibus. Either way: buckle up for some 20 hours of mesmerizing, all consuming reading (230,000+ words). I won’t go into details of the story – to get started you just need the brief description above and expect to be sucked in right away. M.J. Lawless is an amazing story teller! This book has it all – hotter than hot alpha male Hero, love, intrigue, suspense and of course scorching sex scenes (some BDSM).

The hero, Daniel (widower/38 yrs/dark hair/hazel eyes) is an alpha male: rich, successful, private, handsome, sexy, unattainable, controlling and dominant. He is not as possessive and jealous as some of recently popular heroes (yes, I do love Gideon Cross, William Honor, Gabriel Emerson, Ethan Blackstone and Christian Grey). Daniel is more mature and secure which partly can be attributed to his age, but it did not in any way detract from his appeal. His demons mainly stem from being an orphan and from tragically losing his wife. In this love story he found a purpose again; he was able to sort out his demons, but he also had to face huge challenges with his business empire.

The heroine, Kris (28 yrs/black-brown hair/blue eyes) had to work through issues from losing her mother at an early age, father issues and a history of bad relationships. She also has a lot of growing up to do as well as finding her strength and identity next to Daniel.
“A man so dominant as Daniel Stone— in height, in physical and sexual prowess, in financial and worldly muscle— could easily drown her. Sexually, yes: she wanted to submit to him, again and again and again. But that didn’t mean that she wanted to be his shadow in every way…”

Both Daniel and Kris are very complex characters. Their love is intense, sex scenes at times violent and as the story unfolds and their love is challenged you’ll find everything from jealous, vindictive and ruthless ex-lovers, business associates, to even friends.

*** One observation: the story is told in 3rd person from Kris’ POV, but at times - in the middle of a paragraph (particularly in the beginning) the writing appeared to shift into 3rd person from Daniel’s POV. It just threw me off, but I wrote it off as an editing glitch. I promise it did not deduct an iota of a point away from the story itself.

What a story!!! My oh my! So intense, it will leave you breathless and definitely take a lot out of you while reading – the suspense will keep you at the edge of your seat, you’ll literally be glued to the pages, staying up all night. 5+++ stars! I truly love this series and I am so happy I stumbled across it. I love Daniel -so alpha, but with a mature twist. He was so loyal, sweet and composed, but still all dominant and sexy. Kris annoyed me at times, (like the heroines oftentimes do when paired with alpha males), but she matured, found her footing and in the end she was faced with the challenge of… hmm you are just going to have to find out for yourself.

This is an incredible read! I can’t believe that readers haven’t caught on sooner. This is a definite keeper and a book that can be re-read. I recommend that you get your copy today, turn off the phone, light some candles, cozy up on the couch and get prepared for a love story of epic proportions.

***
Hero rating: 5 stars
Heroine rating: 4.5 stars
Story line rating: 5+ stars
******************************
Overall rating: 5+ stars

Would I recommend this book: Yes!
Would I re-read this book: Yes!

[Allison ❤️Will Never Conquer Her TBR❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 STARS!

Well, this book was one serious.....



I seriously started this book not sure I wanted to continue through....but I stuck with it and the time invested paid off!

When Kris Avelar decides to take a break from life, going to a secluded cabin away from the hustle and bustle of civilization, she runs into a beautifully scarred man while getting groceries. The man's eyes bore holes into her soul but before she knew it, he was gone.....watching his car fade away. When she spots this car again outside her cabin, she has to find out who he is and why he came to her. She finds out via the store owner that he's a bit of a recluse...a man that lives way off away from anyone else. She has to find him, find out what he was at her cabin for.....

Meet Kris Avelar, businesswoman, aspiring artist, Portuguese decent..... a lonely, guarded woman.



Meet Daniel Stone, a widower taking a break away from his life as a billionaire business tycoon. A man who is scarred from the fatal accident that killed his wife and unborn child...a man who lives for control and domination.





Daniel and Kris begin a very intense physical relationship. He can see the submissive within her and he vows to break the shell that surrounds her...to dominate her in every way. Kris is drawn to Daniel like no other man. When she first met him, he's a bearded, scarred, tall, dark man that looks anything but clean cut businessman. She doesn't care...he makes her want to submit, to break the walls she's formed from her abusive father so many years ago.



What I LOVED about this series-

The writing was very eloquent, almost poetic. Their story starts from ground zero and they experience several years worth of growth, triumph, strife... It has it all. Daniel started out being NOT my favorite alpha but he grew to be a strong, protective, endearing man I won't soon forget!

What I DIDN'T love about this series-

Some of the lingo with sex was cheesy. She refers to her lady bits as petals and flowering...blah! Yuck. Daniel is obviously hung like a horse but there was SO MUCH focus on the size of his monstrous penis, I kind of cringed every time he penetrated her.

I don't know if it's because this book is British written because I haven't experienced this with other British novels but the complete lack of contractions killed me! Could not versus couldn't and do not versus don't. It was distracting to me to a fault!

Daniel vacillates from being a total arrogant bastard at times to being swoon worthy in his care for Kris. There were times I wanted to throw my kindle and give up on him but then he switches it up and explains away his reasons for being the man he is. I forgave him. I think you shall too.

This is a book about second chances. A book where both parties have a past that haunts them but they find a way to overcome their past hurts and surge forward together. Things happen along the way to try to tear them apart but together they shall persevere.



****Thanks, SueBee for the book recommendation. I enjoyed it.....even if you had near heart failure along the way with my updates. ......

[Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one for me to review. I had been recommended this trilogy and I really wanted to like it - not to mention M.J is so nice. But I've got to be honest and go with how I really felt about this. This edition is all three books together, but i'm going to talk about each book individually because in my opinion the books did get better.

Book 1. Having read the blurb I was intrigued and was looking forward to reading this book. I have to say that shortly after I started the book I was slightly shocked at the the language and the directness of some of the scenes. This didn't put me off - It was just not what I was expecting. I loved the idea of Kris meeting this man, forming a relationship with him and then finding out he was someone else entirely, however I found the book a little slow and I was finding it difficult to connect with the Characters. However it did pick up and I found myself wanting to read on to find out more about Daniel Stone. Alas this didn't happen. Sometimes the book felt disjointed, spending a lot of time on certain scenes and then jumping. I found the ending a little odd. I have to say that if I had bought this book separately I wouldn't have bought the next one.

Book 2. The first part of this book takes place in Portugal. Again I found it slow to begin with. I found that I was getting bored with what I felt were over descriptive detailing of the surroundings. Don't get me wrong, I get that you have to set the scene, make readers feel where they are, but I found this over the top in proportion to the rest of the writing. When Maria turns up into the story, I thought here we go another ex/jealousy story (thinking of a similar story line in two other trilogies!) BUT - I was pleasantly surprised at where this story went. I wont say too much to give it away, but it was the last thing I was expecting. At this point the story became very interesting and I was starting to read it more quickly. I was a bit disappointed in the lack of Daniel in this book though. I understand that he has a business to run and in someways I respected this more because it was more real life in the fact that he actually did have to do a lot of work for his business (and not amazingly just have loads of free time for Kris), but I would have liked to see more of him, to learn more about him. I definitely enjoyed this book more that the first.

Book 3. With book 2 being much more interesting and going somewhere so different than the usual, I was excited as to what this book would hold. IMO it was the best book of all three. I actually didn't want to put the book down. There was lots going on to keep you reading on. having read so much of Kris I definitely had some connection with her, but still none with Daniel. We did learn more of Daniel though and there was more of him than there was in the Second book. My only complaint about this book was that it felt a little rushed at the end.

General comments: My main issue I had with these books was not being about to connect to Daniel's character. I know part of the story was the mystery about him, but I really feel that readers would like him/connect with him more if we saw more or knew more about him in these books. I buddy read a lot with my friend Dawn and we are forever arguing over who gets each guy in the books we read. I have to say that neither of us claimed Daniel, which is a shame because I think that he was a good base for a character, I think he just needed more, but that's just my opinion. There is no doubt that the story lines and the writing got better with each book. I would say that the first and last book are worlds apart in that respect. There were a few editing/grammar issues, but again I noticed less as the books went on.

I'm giving this trilogy 3.5 out of 5. I feel that the second book was a 3, with the third book being a 4. With all that I said I think this is the longest review I've ever written so there was definitely something I really enjoyed about this trilogy. :-)

[Donna ~ The Romance Cover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well what can I say.....I thoroughly enjoyed this series and all in one hit with no cliff hangers!! Woo hoo!! Fantastic debut by a very talented author!!

Kris and Daniel were fabulous characters that I absolutely fell in love with, both complex characters, each had their history and back stories that slowly came out over the course of the trilogy. The romance side was a believable story and you actually lived and felt them fall in love despite their problems, even though this is a dominant millionaire story, the actual back story plot was gripping and a real page turner...the goings on at Stone Enterprises made the story, especially the last instalment. Loved the way Kris was at the end and how she saved Daniel...I had tears, laughter a bit of angst..not too much...absolutely hated Maria, which I think was the intention and it so worked...what a biatchhhhhhh...if I could of killed her myself I would have!! A lovely story that no doubt I will read again..slower this time as I was reading at such a pace as I needed to know what was going on...a real addictive read...well done MJ Lawless, can't wait for another read by this author!!

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riding the waves of 50 Shades of Grey. Not as powerful. Not as compelling.

The trilogy includes three books (each one is about a full-length novel):
Fractured Crystal: Sapphires and Submission
Fragile Crystal: Rubies and Rivalries
Refracted Crystal: Diamond and Desire

I read the first book. I couldn’t get into it. Good looking girl works as a junior secretary for an insurance company. She meets wealthy businessman Daniel. He’s gorgeous and ripped. They each had a bad incident in their past which is the reason he is a sadist and she wants pain during sex. When they first meet, he doesn’t woo her with nice words or smiles. Instead he starts feeling her sexually and hurting her. He says if you don’t want it you can leave anytime, but don’t come back. She stays. They have lots of sex, much of it painful for her. He takes her to dinners, events, and traveling.

It was missing character development and interesting plot. It was missing emotional pull. I didn’t feel anything, and I wanted it to be over. If you loved 50 Shades fo Grey and want more of that kind of relationship, this might appeal to you. There is lots of sex which includes pulling hair, spanking, hitting with a stick and a belt, sex toys, rear door activity, and self pleasuring.

One scene troubled me more than others. Frequently in BDSM books, the woman wants to be submissive during sex but not at work. Here Daniel wants Kris to wear a bullet vibrator at work. During the day he turns it on with a remote device. She attends a meeting with the head of the company to tell him about her work assignment. Because Daniel turns on the vibrator, she is unable to talk about her work, makes sexual noises, and has to leave the meeting to take care of herself in a bathroom. I was angry. She and Daniel thought this was something good. This was the first time Kris cared about her work and wanted to do a good job. Yet she was willing to jeopardize it for sex? It didn’t fit Kris’ motivations. I would suggest the author use a restaurant or other public place, not Kris’ job.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Kindle count story length for three books: 12,670 (1,046 KB). Swearing language: strong including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong-erotic. Number of sex scenes: about 22. Setting: current day various locations in United Kingdom and Europe. Copyright: 2012. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.

[My Little Nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely story!! I so loved Kris and Daniel, they are a total hot couple. He's British, she's half British half Portuguese, they met in a very unusual way, when they were trying to isolate themselves from the world. Very interesting story plot, very hot, challenging hero and very sassy
and sex fiend heroine :D

Daniel Logan/Stone


Kristina "Kris" Avelar


The first book needed better editing and sometimes the scenes were a bit rushed. Book 2 and 3 were better edited and the story and characters were developed more...so I enjoyed them totally. I will miss them, this was a very nice read.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read thoroughly enjoyed. Read this trilogy during my weeks holiday and loved it.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't believe that any review I write can do this trilogy justice. It simply was that excellent.

Daniel Logan/Stone and Kris Avelar are both tortured by their pasts. Tragic, painful events shaped their lives and made them the people they are. Whilst I warmed to Kris quite quickly, I wasn't sure that I was going to like Daniel much, as he appeared to be, what I can only describe as, a domineering brute. But the more I read, the more I began to understand him.

It is so much more than many of the other books of this genre that are out there. Yes it has lots of sex, but alongside it runs a superbly written story with strong endearing lead characters who work together perfectly and a storyline that holds you in suspense and desperate to find out more. The number of unexpected surprises and twists it holds right to the very end are just fantastic. I cannot recommend reading this enough.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book
...starting out I didnt know quite what to think of it as the language was more advanced than im used too for this type of genre but sooo glad I stuck with it x the only book to of had me gaping with shock as its quite dark in places x barely put my fone down for days even found myself hiding in the stock room at work to get a sneaky read x

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this trilogy about two people who needed a change in their lives and were helped by each other. I read each book in the series, one after the other. And I'm glad that I did. There is a lot to the story of the Kris and Daniel and lots of details to remember. Every time I felt the story bog down a little something would happen to keep my interest and keep me reading. So glad I found out about this trilogy from my friend Sue. I'd call these books hidden gems and I'm happy to have had a chance to read them.

[Kate Poulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.., what a trilogy! Can be a bit dark in places but amongst all the filth there was a decent, gripping storyline! Did not want to put my iPad down at all.. Infact I'm not sure i actually did. MJ Lawless does have a way with words which can at times be a little too advanced at stages but overall the story outweighed that.
Did not want it all to end but glad it ended the way it did. A full 5 stars *****!

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a long story. I absolutely loved it. There is so much depth of character, so much growing. Kristen and Daniel together came so far from their beginning at Comrie. so many twists and turns throughout. highly recommend!

[skulls121973 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a great read the story got better and better and didn't want it to end.
Well Done M.J and thank you for a never forgetting story. XX

[Mandi Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Logan makes my top 10 fictional boyfriend list !!

[Georgia Caddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great value trilogy in one book, telly enjoyed it a little different. A lot less frustrating being able to read all 3 back to back. Well worth the read.

[Paula (Poll) Conway · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this , book 3 was my favourite , I guess I would rate the series between 3.5-4.5

[Debra Lazare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Great writing and an actual storyline.

[Deborah Clenahan]

I have picked this up and put it down so many times, I just can't get away with it. The plain descriptive language used, for example 'vulva' really puts a cold clinical edge to the racy scenes, very off putting.

I promise to keep trying.

[J.A. Heron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up half way through, did not enjoy this at all. I kept dosing off when reading the droll. I'm not the sort of person to give up on something, but i really didnt care what happened at the end.
Sorry it just was not my cup of tea. :(

[Amanda Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!

[Linda P]

Stopped at 34%

[Indy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Fiordiligii · Rating 1 out of 5]

No rating, I discontinued at 10% as I couldn't get into the author's writing style at all. So depressing and distracting. DNF