Happy For You by Anyta Sunday
Series: Love & Family
Publisher: Anyta Sunday (self-published)
Release Date (Print & Ebook): September 10, 2019
Length (Print & Ebook): 60,000 words
Subgenre: Contemporary Gay Romance
Warnings: Depression (affecting a side character)
Book blurb
Mort wants his de facto family back. . . .
He knows he doesn’t deserve them. Not yet, anyway. Not without making up for leaving them in their time of need.
But it’s not easy to make amends. Mort must show how much he wants the Rochester family back in his life. When his best friend’s younger brother, Felix, has his license suspended, Mort jumps at the chance to play chauffeur and to win back the family he desperately wants to call his own.
Repairing his broken relationships—with all five Rochester siblings—becomes Mort’s personal mission. Especially with Felix. Felix, who used to follow him everywhere. Felix, who idolized him. Felix, whom Mort has not stopped thinking about . . .
Felix is just trying to keep it together. . . .
With a perma-smile as his armor, he’s determined to make his family happy. Determined to be a positive role model to his three younger sisters, while their mum struggles with depression after her kidney transplant.
Unfortunately, no amount of smiling can save his license when he gets pulled over for the umpteenth time, and he still needs to get his sisters to school, soccer, and dance classes.
The solution to his problem emerges in the return of their prodigal neighbor, Mort. Mort, who left their lives without a word. Mort, who was in love with Felix’s older brother.
Mort, who is the last guy Felix wants charging back into their lives. . . .
Mort and Felix. Two guys bound by a rocky past—
—a past they must come to terms with to find true happiness in the here and now.
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Set in New Zealand, Happy For You (Love & Family #3) is an MM gay romance featuring two guys pitted together in a blue 1988 station wagon—and there’s no doubt about it, Mort is going to drive Felix crazy.
Can be read as a standalone.
Teaser Excerpt
Felix eyes me sleepily. “That’s one wild frown.”
I readjust my cap. “Tailored just for you.”
His cheeks dimple. “What’s the matter?”
“Are you in the mood to talk?”
Felix pushes himself upright, leaving a smear of condensation on the glass. “About what?”
“Everything.”
He squints, hesitant. “Define everything.”
“How’s your mum doing?”
A whimper-laugh drizzles out of him. “I’d rather talk about the sorry state of my love life.”
“How sorry are we talking?”
He stares at me blankly. “You first.”
I laugh. “Remember when I dragged you for coffee at Zealandia Café and we bumped into my colleague Jack and—”
“And Ben McCormick. Trust me, a week is not long enough to erase the embarrassment of almost toppling into them.”
“Jack’s the guy I’ve been flirting with at work.”
Felix gives me a standard cardboard smile. Those smiles are pissing me off. His days are littered with them.
I fight back a growl. “I’m fairly sure he’s a lost cause.”
“Considering he wedged his hand into Ben’s back pocket, I’d say he is.” Felix stares at passing cars. “Are you gutted?”
“He’s a decent guy. Hot and charming but mostly just a distraction.”
Felix whips his head toward me. “From what?”
I give him a pointed look.
“From missing us,” he murmurs.
Yeah. From that tiny ache that’s ripping me open.
“Do you miss us all equally?” Felix claps his mouth shut. “Forget it. That’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is. No matter how untrue, they’ll swear they don’t have one.”
I peer at him through the rearview mirror. “I missed you all equally.”
“You’ll make a good parent.” He drops back in his seat, and catches my eye, mouth twisted toward a smile. A real one this time.
I want more of his smiles. I want Felix to see what we could have together. Want to graduate from “chauffeur” to Guy He Has Fun With.
Felix clears his throat and clicks his seatbelt open. “I should get inside.”
“Tiffany has an hour left.” I eye the arcade. “We can use it.”
Felix hums. “Yeah, okay. We’re out of parchment paper and detergent. The Warehouse is still open. We can swing by.”
Parchment paper and detergent? That’s how he wants to spend a free hour? Felix doesn’t know how much he needs me. “Out of the car, sunshine.”
“What?”
“Hop out, or I’m coming around and making a show of opening your door.”
3 of 5 Stars
I liked book one in this series a lot and I absolutely loved book two…this one confused me at times and left me questioning parts of book two as well.
There are things I liked about this book so I’m going to list those first because my list of issues is going to make this review sound negative. I do like Felix and Mort together when there are no outside forces getting in the way. Mort does convince me his feelings are 100 percent real for Felix and they share several heart meltingly sweet moments. Mort also breaks my heart a bit with his past and being cast out and wanting to get his ‘family’ back.
I like Tiffany and the twins and the relationships between them and both Felix and Mort. We’re given a glimpse of how great Felix and Mort would be together raising a family.
As for the issues I had with the book; I felt like I came into the middle of a story…and I know we met Mort (quite a bit) and Felix (briefly) in book two but we didn’t get any part of their story, not really.
- This book opens with Mort’s return, with very little explanation for his departure but it was devastating for everyone involved. This is still an area of contention for me as Felix’s mother caused so much angst for seemingly no reason and never fully explains this to the family and has some magical epiphany that changes her outlook.
- Until about the 80% mark, we’re left wondering if Roch and Mort still have feelings for each other…this book felt triangle-ish with Roch being always right there and the jealously flying around. I WAS BEYOND FRUSTRATED BY THIS.
- Mort’s behavior with his coworker (mostly in book two but mentioned here) is REALLY BAFFLING if he started having feelings for Felix BEFORE HE LEFT. So, Mort is trying to convince Felix (and us) that he’s number one but he pursued a coworker while he was in love with Felix? Really?
- The writing was hard to get used to in this book and I don’t remember this issue from the previous two books in the series…not sure if this is me or something changed.
Needless to say I suppose, I was a bit disappointed with this book after loving books one and two but I would absolutely read another book in the series should one be released.
Read the Series
Q&A with Anyta Sunday
Q: What is the significance of the title “Happy For You”?
AS: This book’s all about happiness – where to find it for ourselves, how to make others happy, and how to live with the fact that we can’t make everyone around us happy. Mort and Felix have to learn it the hard way: if they’re both only trying to make others happy, they’ll lose sight of themselves. They have to find their own happiness first to finally be happy together.
Q: What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
AS: While every book has its own challenges, this one was special because it features a large family that wanted to have ample space on the page. To give all of them their rightful place was not easy, but they all demanded to be heard ☺ This spring and summer, when I worked on “Happy For You”, was also a time of transitions for my family – from my son changing schools to me transitioning to a new diet, so finding time for the book wasn’t always easy.
Q: Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
AS: I am always working 😀 At the moment, I’m diving back into astrology and star signs, and tackling book 5 in the “Signs of Love” series. A Cancer and an Aquarius are the lucky couple in this one, and I’m already having so much fun with them. It’s quite emotional, but just like all the other SoL books, also full of banter and romantic comedy!
Q: Where do you draw inspiration from?
AS: Inspiration is all around – walking the streets, seeing a couple interact at the café, getting a lovely message from my husband. So many things can spark an idea, like a smell that brings back a memory or a piece of music that becomes alive in my head. I try to soak it all in and scribble it down as soon as possible.
Q: Do you have any new series planned?
AS: There are a few ideas currently swirling in my head, and I never know how they’ll finally arrive on the page. One series idea I just cannot stop thinking about is what I call the “Love Shack” in my head. A beachside house that brings different roommates together, always sparking new misadventures and love stories! Another idea is a cozy, super sweet and romantic mystery. But whatever series comes next, you can be sure it’ll be full of slow burn romance!
About Anyta Sunday
I’m a big, BIG fan of slow-burn romances. I love to read and write stories with characters who slowly fall in love. Some of my favorite tropes to read and write are: Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Clueless Guys, Bisexual, Pansexual, Demisexual, Oblivious MCs, Everyone (Else) Can See It, Slow Burn, Love Has No Boundaries. I write a variety of stories, Contemporary MM Romances with a good dollop of angst, Contemporary lighthearted MM Romances, and even a splash of Fantasy. My books have been translated into German, Italian, French, Spanish, and Thai.
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Giveaway
Enter to win one complete paperback set of the Love & Family series: Taboo for You, Made for You, and Happy for You, or, one of three e-books of Happy for You. Prizes are open internationally. Must be 18 to enter and win.