False Summer, (Paperback)

<p><strong>Some truths are cultivated. Others are buried.</strong></p><p>In the rolling vineyards of Provence, where timing is everything and nothing ripens before it's ready, Elara Duval has built her life on precision. As a vineyard consultant at Château Maurel, she trusts only what can be measured-sugar levels, soil conditions, the slow and honest transformation of grapes into wine. The land tells the truth. It always does.</p><p>People are another matter entirely.</p><p>When a journalist arrives unexpectedly-driving the wrong road, wearing the wrong shoes, and asking the wrong questions-Elara senses immediately that something isn't right. Matthieu Vidal claims to be writing a feature on the estate, but his attention lingers where it shouldn't. His questions cut deeper than curiosity. He is not there to admire the vineyard.</p><p>He is there to assess it.</p><p>What begins as a quiet disruption soon becomes something far more dangerous. Because Château Maurel is not what it appears to be-and neither is Elara's role within it. Behind the estate's success lies a carefully maintained arrangement built on silence, strategy, and survival. One that has held for three years. One that was never meant to be examined too closely.</p><p>Now, someone is looking.</p><p>As Matthieu begins to peel back the layers of the estate, Elara finds herself caught in a slow-burning game of control and perception. Every conversation becomes a negotiation. Every silence becomes a risk. And every truth-once revealed-threatens to dismantle everything she has worked to protect.</p><p>Because some things cannot survive exposure.</p><p>And some people don't come to observe. They come to acquire.</p><p>Set against an atmospheric backdrop of sunlit vineyards, shadowed cellars, and the quiet tension of a place built on legacy, <em>False Summer</em> is a gothic romance infused with psychological suspense and literary depth. It is a story about power, identity, and the dangerous consequences of being truly seen.</p><p>As the harvest approaches and the grapes edge closer to perfection, the pressure builds-not just in the vines, but in the fragile structure holding Elara's world together. She must decide what matters more: the truth, or the life she has built around it.</p><p>And when the moment comes, there will be no time left to wait.</p><p><strong>Perfect for readers who love: </strong></p><ul><li>Gothic romance with slow-burn tension</li><li>Psychological suspense with strong female leads</li><li>Dark, atmospheric love stories</li><li>Literary fiction with mystery and depth</li><li>European settings and vineyard/wine country drama</li></ul><p><em>False Summer</em> is an elegant, unsettling, and deeply immersive novel where nothing is rushed-and everything is at stake.</p><p>Because in the end, the truth ripens whether you're ready for it or not.</p>

• False Summer, (Paperback)
• Author: Lurking Fear Publishing
• ISBN: 9798233448706
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-03-28
• Page Count: 208