Hero- Boss is very hard to love more than half of the book but he will warm up to heroine... But you will need patience...
Cleo never expected to travel to Japan with her arrogant, jerk boss and fell into bed with him. She can't stand him during the day but at night, he was everything you would want in a partner. When she comes back home (South Africa), she is faced with NDA. Just like all of his other ladies he had before. She felt like she was one of those ladies but that changed when she finds out she is pregnant. She can't stand him and she wasn't sure how to approach him but she had clear plan to have him sign his paternal right to her.
Dante Damaso, the arrogant boss doesn't mix business with pleasure. He was sure he was done with Cleo until she reveals she is pregnant with his baby. He doesn't want to be a dad to a baby and he sure doesn't want to settle down.
Cleo knew Dante and his brother's friendship was important to both and she wanted to keep the news of baby away from him. After revealing she is pregnant, he fires her and now she is without a job. She wanted to keep the baby and she doesn't want Dante to be involved at all. She is trying her hardest to keep him away from her but when he keeps appearing at her door and demand her to be more careful
Cleo needs financial support but she doesn't want to get it from Dante and her pride is too strong to demand from him. Dante isn't sure if he will be able to to keep his distance away from Cleo.
Both will need each other but it won't be easy and it breaks my heart to see them suffering.. Will they grow up and face the reality.. They both have their issues they will have to figure out..
It was heart breaking at times but finally get the happy end.. I wanted to strangle Dante for his behavior but sometimes Cleo was frustrating as well.
Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake Publishing for my ARC in exchange for honest review.

Cleo and Dante go to Japan on a business trip. He's not the most considerate boss, but they're attracted to each other and act on that attraction even though they know it won't be any more than a "thing". Things change when they return home and Dante is as remote and arrogant as ever. It's a volatile relationship and it's a roller coaster ride from beginning to end.

Dante was a jerk from page one and that didn't change for quite a while in the book. Cleo is not the most responsible person, but she has to grow up fast when she becomes responsible for someone else. Dante's arrogance and distance is understandable considering his upbringing, but he seems a little too cold at times, especially in the first half.

A Ruthless Proposition by Natasha Anders was an interesting twist to a romance book. A much different formula then I am used to but it worked well. The main characters are developed but their emotions are all over the place. Dante was all over the board with his emotions and personality. He was rude, verbally abusive and arrogant one minute, and then a nice guy later in the book. Cleo was way to forgiving of him, but they did have a lot of chemistry together. I was outraged for a good part of the book about what these two were putting each other through but the story kept drawing me in. Of course, they did get their happily ever after in the end.

I enjoyed this story of Cleopatra and Dante, even though both of these characters were very frustrating at times. I found Dante to be an insensitive jerk most of the time. He treated Cleopatra horribly! Cleopatra acted like a spineless doormat during a large portion of the book. Regardless, I enjoyed when these two finally found true romance together.