Love's Sweet Harvest
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Published: 1990
Language: eng
Number of pages: 189
Description: She was ecstatic and afraid !   Being chosen by world-famous dance director Harlem Barensky to be his set designer was like a dream come true for Tiffany.

Talented but inexperienced and a little clumsy, she was sure she wouldn't be able to match the maverick Russian's legendary high standards---but she took her chance.

Harlem Barensky was a demanding taskmaster haunted by his past--and despite the growing attraction between them, he was prepared to test Tiffany's abilities to their limits before he gave her his trust.

Testing Tiffany 'to her limits' means accepting Harlem humiliating her in public often, saying she's fat and gauche (and 'gauche' she is, as well as pretty brainless and lacking any backbone for 99% of the book) as well as accepting his alcoholic personality; he's forever getting drunk and seems to drink copious amounts of alcohol daily.

Reason for this is his consuming guilt as prior to starting his new dance company, he used to be a dancer but had a bad car accident, where he was driving, but accident was due to car malfunctioning, not his driving.  However, a number of other dancers in the car with him died and he injured his leg badly enough to be unable to dance again.

He gives no indication to Tiffany of wanting a permanent relationship - and in fact, proposes she move in with him for a few weeks while they work on the set design of his ballet, so he can 'burn out' his lust for her...!!!    She refuses and tries to leave him, but he catches her and causes her to fall down the stairs ....and she's pregnant with his child at this stage.

There is a HEA of sorts, if you can believe it, but as a 'hero', he's a pretty nasty piece of work.