A Daring Proposition by Miranda Lee delves into the story of 25 year old Samantha Peters, who has been in love with her 36 year old boss Guy Haywood for the past five years. The unrequited love becomes too much for Samantha to handle, and the story begins when she informs Guy of her intention to quit which needless to say, is not well received at all.

Guy finds it hard to believe the reasons Samantha gives for wanting to quit and walk away, especially when he sees no problems with the working relationship that they have going. Unable to stop Samantha from leaving, things however change, when Guy’s father is hospitalized, and Samantha finds the solution to her problem; become the mother to the baby that Guy wants, without having to go through the conventional route of marriage to do so.

Samantha believes herself to be sophisticated enough to handle such a “relationship” with Guy, but reality of course, proves her wrong at every turn. Guy meanwhile, has to confront with the fact that Samantha is not what he has pegged her to be, and that she might just end up being the only woman to stake a claim on his heart before all is said and done.

I really wanted to enjoy this story because I am a glutton for punishment and adore stories focusing on the unrequited love theme. However, Samantha was such a problematic heroine for almost 3/4^th of the book that I got quite fed up at certain points. Her inner monologue sounds unhinged through most places and her constant need to blame Guy for going along with what she wanted; i.e. become lovers and impregnate her was not something I liked overly much. Samantha is a grown up woman, who should own up to her decisions that she makes – which I failed to see in her.

Samantha is the one who decided to offer herself up to Guy because obviously her love for him makes it difficult for her to walk away as easily as she might have wanted to. Furthermore, Samantha seems to believe that Guy could love her just like that and talks about common sense which would direct him to love her; when has love ever been about common sense?

At most points, Guy seems to be the most sensible of the two and needless to say, the fact that Samantha annoyed me made the story lose its rating. Things only started looking up when Samantha finally got what she proposed to do, and stopped blaming Guy for the decision she took with her eyes wide open.

I also believe that the story would have been more satisfying had the reader been privy to the Guy’s feelings as they developed; I was not feeling the heat from the hero towards a large chunk of the story and the lack of any attraction that Guy was feeling towards Samantha really stumped me. It indeed would have been fun to see him brought to his knees with love and want for his Samantha. I also missed seeing the kind of sexy times that Ms. Lee’s books are famous for materialize in this story, which detracted from the enjoyment factor.

Recommended for fans of Miranda Lee.

Final Verdict: Samantha’s unrequited love for her boss results in the most daring proposition of all; make her the mother of his child, with no strings attached!

Favorite Quotes

Suddenly she couldn’t bear the uncertainty, the darkness. She had to know what he was doing, what was happening. Hands trembling uncontrollably, they lifted to the knot.
‘Don’t!’ he commanded instantly, his hands closing over hers, taking them down. ‘Don’t,’ he repeated in a raw whisper, and placed her hands on his bare chest.
They jerked away as though stung by an electric shock. ‘You’re naked!’ she accused, voice shaking.
‘No,’ he soothed, sliding his arms around her waist and drawing her to him. ‘I’ve still got my trousers on. See?’
‘I…I can’t see,’ she reminded him in a daze of erotic excitement.
‘Feel, then.’

‘Move with me, Sam,’ he urged.
She did, grasping him tight and close, searching to devour him with an all-consuming ardour.
‘Hell,’ he muttered once.
She felt the changes in her body, felt the gradual increasing of tension, the relentless tightening of her internal muscles, but had no idea where they were leading. Eventually her fingers began to dig deeply into Guy’s back and a tortured moan punched from her throat. Perhaps sensing her imminent release, Guy scooped his hands under her buttocks and lifted her into him, his penetration more devastatingly complete.
She climaxed immediately, her back arching from the bed as her body was gripped by contraction after contraction of sheer electric pleasure.

She felt mesmerised, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car, standing there staring at him, unable to move or say anything. He came up to her and curled surprisingly gentle hands over her shoulders, easing her startled body over and back against the wall next to the door.
His first kisses were soft and patient, teasing her lips open, waiting for the groan that finally fluttered from her throat. Then his hands lifted to her face and he was holding her captive for the velvet heat of his tongue as it plundered her mouth, over and over. She was gasping by the time his lips slid across to an ear then down her throbbing throat, his impassioned words sending tremors of desire richocheting throughout her body.

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