Reviewed by Jen
TITLE: Cinder and His Dragon
SERIES: Colorado Dragons #2
AUTHOR: Victoria Sue
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 340 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2026
BLURB:
Cinder Adair’s life shattered in a single night.
A child died in the ER—and when the attending physicians lied to save themselves, the blame fell squarely on Cinder, a burned-out pediatric nurse already drowning under grief and impossible expectations. With his reputation ruined and every hospital door slammed shut, he takes the only job he can a low-pay medical assistant position with the disgraced Colorado Dragons hockey team.
It’s not the career he trained for.
It’s not the life he wanted.
But it’s a place to hide… and a chance to breathe again.
Taranis Rees knows exactly what it feels like to be discarded.
At thirty-seven, the veteran goaltender is aging out of the league—one hit away from forced retirement, one mistake away from losing the last identity he has. Quiet, lonely, and painfully shy off the ice, he never expected to care about anything except hockey.
Then he meets Cinder.
The soft-spoken, guilt-haunted new medic sparks something fierce and ancient in Taranis—something he’s kept buried for years. Something with scales, fire, and the instinct to protect what’s his.
When the press starts digging into Cinder’s past, painting him as a killer, Taranis—usually the gentlest man on the team—goes scorched earth.
He stands between Cinder and the world, shielding him with a fury no human goalie should have.
Because Taranis isn’t just fighting for a teammate.
He’s fighting for the man who quiets the storm inside him…
the man his dragon has chosen.
But as the truth behind the ER cover-up resurfaces—and Cinder’s enemies close in—both men will have to decide whether hiding can ever lead to healing…
or whether it’s time to step out of the shadows and fight for the future they never believed they deserved.
Two broken souls.
One protective dragon.
A love born from ashes… and ready to burn the world clean.
REVIEW:
This installment is about the Dragon’s goalie, Taranis, or Taz. Unlike Phoenix from the last book who was a fire dragon, Tax is an ice dragon. Due to things in his past involving his parents, he has pretty much kept himself isolated. But, it is getting more difficult to control his dragon and the ice effects associated with him. That all changes when he is around Cinder though.
Cinder is the team’s medic/nurse. He has had a really rough time of it previous to this job where his ex-boyfriend took words in confidence and printed an article that all but destroyed Cinder, including his job as an ER nurse. That past comes into play here and gets in the way of Cinder and Taz’s blossoming relationship before certain things are taken care of.
Taz is basically forced to make a decision on putting his team before Cinder and it has some almost catastrophic effects on Taz and the team as this is all happening as the Dragons claw their way into the playoffs through must-win games. There is some mystery about the current situation being linked to the previous blackmailing issue and with Cole’s father still on the loose, it seems plausible. We never really get that link though so hopefully he is still out of play for now.
Ms. Sue never fails to create interesting worlds, and this one is no different. I love the various dragon aspects here with them almost being different species of dragons. It gives each one unique hurdles to overcome and really keeps things interesting. It also makes it easy to see that these guys are actual mates in the way Cole is able to be with and around Taz with no issues and is even able to calm the dragon down with his presence.
Needless to say, I am already looking forward to the next book. Looks like Coach Dante is up next. Let the story continue!
RATING: 
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