"The best holiday traditions are meant to be broken."
It's only December 1, and Vanessa Clayton has been dreading Christmas since she spotted tinseled trees at her local mall in September. Thankfully, she and her husband, JT, can't afford to drag their twin boys across the country to New England for the annual celebration at her stuffy sister-in-law Patience's home. Not that Vanessa has prepared a proper Christmas for her family in years, and she has less time than ever since she agreed to consult on the script of a local play. Her older sister, Thea, is no help -- she'd rather make art and flirt with surfers than babysit her nine-year-old nephews. Then Patience drops a holiday stress bomb: "Her family will come to California instead."
In between "baking" cinnamon rolls for the school potluck and overbearing Patience testing "her" patience, Vanessa can't stop thinking about the difficult but charming playwright at work. Meanwhile, Patience's teenage daughter, Libby, obsesses over a college boy she has met by the pool, and Thea searches desperately for the meaning of Christmas -- for her latest installation, of course. As their holiday plans go comically awry, these four women discover the true spirit of the season is hidden in every festive surprise.

Magpie's Tearoom is a cozy haven in bustling L.A. -- a place for luncheons, baby showers, or simply hanging out. Its owner, British expat Margaret Moore, relishes tradition...but between a frustrated chef preoccupied with her neglectful producer girlfriend and the tearoom's waitstaff -- a talented but desperate TV star who hasn't acted since "Detective Buck Love" went off the air, and a twenty-something ingenue who'll do anything to get the part -- her grandmother's scones begin to feel irrelevant.
When the critic from "Tea Talk" announces she is crossing the pond to visit, Margaret attempts to marshal her staff. But, being of the thespian variety, they all want to be doing something else. Yet despite the high personal drama at hand, the customers still demand their perfectly steeped tea and cucumber sandwiches....
As Margaret battles pilot season and produce-coordinator malfunctions, she begins to lose her will to live...in L.A.
But can her L.A. neighborhood do without her tearoom?
In this delightful debut novel with delicious recipes thrown in, Sandra Harper creates a hilarious world where Earl Grey and watercress make a meal, buttering the scones may get you scolded, and nobody does eggs anymore. Warm up the kettle and pull up a seat -- you don't want to miss "High Tea"