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.
Set in New Zealand,
Happy For You (Love & Family #3) is an MM gay romance featuring two guys
pitted together in a blue 1988station wagon—and there’s no doubt about it, Mort
is going to drive Felix crazy.
Can be read as a
standalone.
Tropes: brother’s best friend, second chances, family drama,
friends-to-lovers, slow burn, found family
Genre: New Adult, light-hearted contemporary gay romance
Trigger warnings: Depression and generalized anxiety (of a
side character)
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.”
Q&A
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.
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.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with
your readers about?
AS: I am always
working :D 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!
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.
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.
Connect with Anyta:
Author website:http://www.anytasunday.com/
Author newsletter signup: http://www.anytasunday.com/newsletter-free-e-book/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anytasunday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/anytasunday
Giveaway:
Prize: 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.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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