Everyone feared him; she feared nothing.

The house off the single road between the edge of the village and the nearest town belongs to the last of the McIntosh brothers. For years, the McIntosh family have been rumoured to be violent and possibly psychotic. Possibly murderers. And Kenneth – now a complete recluse – has not escaped the whispered stories that have veiled his kin for generations.

Ella Tennant is loved and looked after by her whole village, for she was born with a rare genetic condition that means she cannot feel fear. Her free-spirited, optimistic nature and her obsessive need to sketch everything she sees have carried her through her challenges.

"Stay away from that house along the way," she's always been told. But her curiosity has finally snared her – it’s the one thing in her village she's never sketched. Pen and paper in hand, Ella strides towards the forbidden...

When a terrifying man and a woman who can never know terror meet, a fuse is lit and sparks fly. In each other lies the understanding that has always been out of reach.

But the villagers aren't ready to hear a different story. And for the first time, Ella's sunny disposition may not be enough to win them over.

Touching and beautifully told, this is a romance like no other.