Christmas Eve at Ruby's Place has always been magical, but the enchantment began long before Ruby opened her namesake supper club...
In 1938, hard times have found Sullivan, Missouri. Christmas is on hold-no parade, no breakfast with Santa, no tree lighting ceremony. Hetty Bonwit, who had once been regarded as the town's guardian angel, is now nothing but an angry recluse. But when she discovers the story of her husband's broken music box, she promises to make amends. Under the dark of night, Hetty sets out to reawaken Sullivan's holiday memories and bring Christmas back to her beloved hometown.
Soon, nearly everyone in Sullivan has a tale to tell of a strange woman disguised beneath a black cloak who appears on doorsteps and returns long-lost heirlooms. Is she really harmless, the townspeople ask, or does this stranger have hidden motives? The effort to find her forges an unlikely alliance between Charlie Barister, a police officer with regrets regarding a Christmas Eve shootout, and Walter Drummond, a child ridiculed for having a tender heart. Their partnership will lead straight to Hetty and a night that will change Sullivan-and themselves-forever.
A Troublesome Heart reveals the origins of Ruby's Place and introduces readers to the very first regulars-those speakeasy patrons who knew how one act of kindness could ripple through generations, and hearts branded troublesome could become the biggest part of Christmas magic.