Reviewed by Jen
TITLE: Phoenix and His Dragon
SERIES: Colorado Dragons
AUTHOR: Victoria Sue
PUBLISHER: Self
LENGTH: 288 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2026
BLURB:
Phoenix is out of options. Homeless, freezing, and desperate, he crashes the Colorado Dragons’ private party with one goal—seduce a player, snag a scandal, and score enough blackmail cash to survive. But when his mark turns out to be Cole Armstrong, the British star center with haunted eyes and an untouchable presence, Phoenix hesitates. Too beautiful. Too kind. Too dangerous to con.
Because Cole isn’t just a hockey legend—he’s a dragon shifter whose fire was magically bound by the same cruel father Phoenix hoped to exploit.
Cole sees through the lie. He should throw Phoenix out. Instead, something in the broken stranger calls to the fire buried deep in his chest—heat that stirs the moment they touch, a bond he can’t afford to want.
But Cole’s father is watching. And he’ll do anything to keep his son under control.
Now Phoenix is more than a risk.
He’s a weakness.
A weapon.
And maybe…the only chance Cole will ever have to break free.
For fans of MM hockey romance who want danger, heat, and dragons that burn the ice.
REVIEW:
It’s been a hot minute since I enjoyed a good Victoria Sue paranormal story, so I was ready for this one. Add in the hockey, and I’m ready to rock.
This is an interesting world with dragon shifters. They are hidden from the human world and there are not very many of them around. Here, Cole is a dragon, but he has been alone in that aspect his whole life. His controlling father has forced a binding on Cole to control his dragon issues and uses all the confusing details associated with that against Cole in every way possible. Cole believes he is a danger to others, has caused pain and harm to others in the past and is generally just trying to get by playing his best hockey as a member of the Colorado Dragons hockey team. Basically, Cole’s father is horrific in all ways.
Phoenix is a young guy down on his luck who has been wronged time and again to the point he has decided (with some outside pushing) to take one opportunity to get close to Cole in order to obtain compromising photos/video in order to get money from Cole’s father. Cole figures it out pretty quick and doesn’t take the bait, but what then happens is Cole wanting to help Phoenix out and them starting a relationship of some sorts. This develops into Cole’s dragon recognizing Phoenix as his mate which becomes pretty important later in the story.
There are a few things going on here with the potential betrayal and blackmail (more than the initial attempt) and it does all come to a head, but not before Cole and Phoenix really strengthen their bond and actually feel like there is hope for them both. This is further strengthened after Cole’s father basically kidnaps Cole and tries to re-bind him and his dragon. Needless to say, there is a good bit going on here.
Through it all, Cole learns that several teammates and associates are dragons as well and they end up being on his side and having his back. They are much more well-versed in the dragon world and take Cole under their wings and help guide him as he learns to accept and manage his dragon. I really enjoyed all of the dragon characters and even some of the humans involved that actually know about them. And the bond between Phoenix and Cole (and his dragon) was really heartwarming.
Suffice to say, this is a really interesting world and a great start to was looks to be a fun series to fall into. It looks like Cinder’s book is up next, and I am eager to learn his story. I did think some things could have been a bit more fleshed out, i.e. Cole’s dragon and him learning to adjust to life alongside him, the mystery blackmailer and Cole’s dad going away a little to easily. However, I’m hooked already and hope we don’t have to wait too long to see the story continue.
RATING: 
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