Protecting Addison by Susan Stoker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She never expected a marriage of convenience to give her everything she ever wanted…love, family, happiness. But a threat from her past could change everything.

When Addison Wentz agreed to a marriage of convenience, she thought it was a reasonable, rational decision. After all, her new husband was already a friend of sorts. He’s also kind, respectful—and a badass Navy SEAL with excellent health insurance, which she desperately needs for her 12-year-old daughter, Ellory. In exchange for coverage, she’ll help Ricky foster three small children from the Ukraine. But just a month into their arrangement, Addison also discovers that Ricky’s sweet, supportive, a wonderful father to all four kids…and the sexiest man she’s ever met. Suddenly, she’s in danger of doing the one thing not allowed in her falling in love with her husband.

Ricardo “MacGyver” Douglas thought his fake marriage was a win-win. Addison got healthcare for her daughter, and he got a mother for the three children he hopes to adopt. Never in a million years did think he’d be lucky enough to choose the one woman who’s actually perfect for him in every way. Addison’s an amazing mother, a savvy businesswoman, a supportive Navy wife…and she turns him on with a single glance in his direction. The ink’s barely dry on their marriage license before there’s no longer anything “fake” about his feelings for his new wife. But how to convince her that he wants to change their arrangement into something very real?

Addy and MacGyver are barely beginning to explore what could be, when her past rears its ugly head, bringing a little more chaos into their lives…and attempting to break up their newfound family for good.

Protecting Addison

A Heartwarming Found Family Romance with Suspense

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💛💚❤️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😋🙂😁😛
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

Characters & Plot Summary

Ricardo “MacGyver” Douglas completely stole my heart in this book. After returning from Ukraine with three orphaned siblings, Yana, Artem, and Borysko, he is determined to adopt them and keep the children together. The only problem is that becoming their legal parent is much easier if he has a stable family life, so he proposes a marriage of convenience to Addison Wentz. Addison has practical reasons of her own for agreeing. Her daughter, Ellory, has ongoing medical needs, and MacGyver’s military health insurance would make a huge difference for them.

I really liked that this arrangement never felt cold or transactional. Some of my favorite scenes were the everyday family moments, like Addison helping the Ukrainian children settle into their new lives while MacGyver naturally stepped into the role of a father for Ellory. Those quieter moments made it believable when the fake marriage slowly turned into something real. Unfortunately, Addison’s abusive ex and Ellory’s biological father reappears, and what begins as an inconvenient interruption grows into a genuinely dangerous situation that threatens the family they have built together.

Highlights & Limitations

The found family aspect was easily my favorite part of this story. Susan Stoker gave each child enough personality that they never felt like background characters. Watching MacGyver patiently earn the trust of the three siblings after everything they survived in Ukraine was incredibly rewarding. I also loved how naturally he treated Ellory as his own daughter from the very beginning instead of making her feel like an outsider.

The suspense also landed well for me. Addison’s ex is the kind of villain who made me nervous every time he appeared because his actions kept escalating instead of remaining empty threats. By the time the danger reached the girls, I was completely invested in seeing the SEAL team come together for the rescue. The protective instincts of the entire group were exactly what I hoped for from this series.

The only thing I wished had been different was the pacing of the romance. Because MacGyver and Addison already cared about each other before the marriage, their emotional transition happened fairly quickly. I enjoyed their relationship, but I would have loved a few more scenes focused entirely on the two of them before the external danger took center stage.

Narration & Performance

The narration worked well with the emotional tone of the story. Savannah Richards captured Addison’s warmth, especially during the scenes where she comforted the children or worried about Ellory’s health. Ryan West gave MacGyver the quiet confidence and steady kindness that define his character, making it easy to believe why everyone around him trusted him so completely. Noel Harrison’s performance helped distinguish the additional viewpoints and added extra tension during the suspenseful moments. Together, the narrators kept both the emotional family scenes and the high-stakes action engaging from beginning to end.

Final Opinion

This ended up being another terrific book in the Alliance series because it focused just as much on building a family as it did on building a romance. I came into the story expecting another protective SEAL romance, but I left remembering the scenes of four frightened children gradually realizing they were finally safe. Those moments stayed with me even more than the action.

MacGyver is exactly the kind of hero I enjoy reading about because his strength shows up as much in his patience and compassion as it does during the dangerous moments. Combined with Addison’s determination to protect every child under her roof, they made an easy couple to root for. If you enjoy marriage of convenience romances with found family, capable heroes, genuine emotional stakes, and enough suspense to keep the pages turning, I think this audiobook is well worth the listen.

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