Happy For You

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Pub Date 10 Sep 2019 | Archive Date 15 Mar 2020

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Description

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 1988 station 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)

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...


Available Editions

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ISBN 9783947909148
PRICE $4.99 (USD)

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Average rating from 75 members


Featured Reviews

Happy for You is the third book in the Love and Family serie by Anyta Sunday. After reading the second book in this series I really wanted to read more by this author and this book didn't dissapoint. It's an amazing, slow burn story about Mort and Felix. Felix is the younger brother of Mort's best friend. I really love the story, the characters and the writing.

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This story was classic Anyta Sunday, with the slow burn turned up to about 15, tossing out a full spectrum of emotions.

There were a few different reasons for the drama in this book.

First, Mort returned to town after a year, leaving at nearly the very moment that the Rochester family could've used his support the most; however, while trying to gain forgiveness for his absence, the one person who knew that Mort held zero blame for his sudden departure remained quiet. Très frustrating, guys.

Second, Felix had been in love with Mort since they were kids, while Mort had been head over heels for Felix's older brother, Roch. But Roch was getting married to "a lovely young woman", so when Mort and Felix's flirtatious interactions were bumped up a notch, of course Felix fought with feelings of being the "consolation prize" brother. The second choice.

On our way home, he doesn’t ask why I disappeared or why I’m acting skittish.

I don’t tell him it’s unbearable being in love with him.

But over time, as they began opening up more to one another, Felix became cautiously optimistic, and others began to notice.

“Now I understand why you are the way you are around Mort.”

“The way I am around Mort?”

“Like he cut out your heart and holds it ransom, and you want it back.”

“No, Tiff, that’s not right.”

“It’s not?”

“I don’t want mine back. I want his.”

This book wasn't completely Romance Central on quite the same level as Anyta's beloved "Rock", but I did find myself really enjoying the times when Mort and Felix let their true feelings see the light of day.

“How can you tell they like you if they aren’t crazy stalkers?”

Mort chuckles and side-eyes me. “Extended eye contact. It’s a look. You learn to recognize it.”

“Show me.”

“I am.”

“I can’t tell. You look at me like that all the time.”

“This is true.” He returns his focus on the road.

Gah, folks, just... GAH!!! Am I right?

The story also wasn't jam packed with snark and banter (or tons of steam), but Mort and Felix definitely kept me constantly engaged and laughing with their often-ridiculous antics.

“So once you’ve navigated through these dozen sheep, we’ll -- ”

“Dozen? There are fifty, at least. And when we retell this story, there’ll be a hundred.”

“Excuse me. Once we navigate through forty million sheep, we’ll -- ”

“Better. We’ll head to the best place on Earth.” Felix sucks on his lips. I smirk at him. “Not my bed, Felix.”

“Holy crap. Stop reading my depraved mind.”

One aspect of the story that I particularly liked was how, even though there was plenty of internal monologue, it was balanced extremely well with *actual* dialogue, which is by far my preference. Stories with MC's that live primarily in their own heads, rarely speaking their mind, well, those books make me pretty bonkers, and real damn fast.

Although this wasn't the most angst-ridden or steamiest book, it felt a bit nostalgic for me, especially during the Pax Polo cameo scenes (from Anyta's "Shrewd Angel" story). Pax was such a fun character, so getting to visit with him again was great.

The story kept me anxiously awaiting what would happen next from start to finish, smiling for most of the ride, so I'd rate this one at around 4 stars and recommend it.

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GAH MY HEART I loved reading this Mort and Felix FINALLY.
I have so much love for these characters especially Felix so I am thrilled he has his own book.
The story itself was well paced and I liked that it wasn’t an easy relationship. Both of them needed to overcome obstacles and that just made them better.
I feel like I need to re- read Rock and shrewd angel now so I can get all the cute backstory goodness

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This is the third instalment in Anyta Sunday's Love & Family series and I have to say that this one featured my favourite couple of the series so far.

Mort has just arrived back in town after a year and he's determined to win his best friend, Roch, and his family back. Felix sacrifices everything for his family and cannot understand why Mort up and left them all a year ago.

Felix has been in love with Mort ever since he was young but Mort had a crush on his older brother, Roch, instead. Felix and Mort find themselves constantly having fun, flirty conversations together but Felix is determined not to be a consolation prize.

If you've read and loved previous works by Anyta then this one will be no exception, it has all of her classic slow-burn goodness to it.

The one problem I had was that Felix's mum had a vital storyline that was so underdeveloped, I just feel like we should have got more information on what was actually happening with her. Also, she never really apologised for what she did and no-one ever called her out or questioned her which I found strange.

There was also points where I felt slightly like i'd been thrown in to the middle of a story so I feel like it could have benefited from a couple more chapters or even some flashbacks.

Overall, this one is another super solid book from one of my favourite slow-burn authors. I was so excited when I heard Anyta Sunday was doing a brothers best friend romance and she didn't disappoint!

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I adored this book. So much. I'm such a fan of Anyta Sunday and this series and I squealed with delight when I saw that the next installment of the Love & Family series was up.

In Happy For You, Mort (Mr. Campbell) and Felix, who are both introduced in Made For You are back with their own story! Felix keeps the house running smoothly as possible. While dealing with his mother's depression and his younger siblings extracurricular activities, Felix is always on the move, always prepared and puts entirely too much responsibility on himself. He's the heart behind the family. But when Mort, Felix's eldest brother, Roch's best friend arrives back in town after a long absence, it flips Felix's world upside down.

Felix and Mort are so tender and sweet and while Felix has been looking at Mort his entire life, growing up looking up, idolizing and loving Mort, Felix doesn't realize Mort has been returning the looks and feelings of his affections. Felix feels a bit lost in the shadow of his brother, Roch and never believing that Mort could ever feel for him what Mort did for his best friend, Roch when they were growing up.

This story is almost like a sweet apologetic waltz. Mort coming back and trying to repair everything he can with the only family he's ever had that cared for him, and loved him unconditionally. The path to his forgiveness is like a trail of stepping stone of siblings, earning each of their trust and love back. But with Felix, it's even more complicated. While not wanting to ruin the progress he makes with the family, Mort also struggles with the balance of that healing with the ever continuously growing closeness with Felix. He's scared to want more when it could mean the demise of the fragile love, trust he's built back up.

I loved the softness of this book and the organic growth of the characters coming to terms with and accepting one another after so much personal hurt. The healing isn't fast, it never is, but it's such a beautiful thing to watch Felix and Mort grow closer and the conversations they have with each other. The openness on how Felix can't seem to find himself attracted to anyone other than Mort, even when he tries to move on. Mort is caring and understanding and really a rock for Felix when he needs it.

I'm just so pleased with this book, these characters and how each of them have to heal their hearts to be able to move forward. I hope Anyta keep this series going. I have loved every one and look forward to even more!

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This book is third in a series and I have read the other two although the connection between the second and third is pretty slim so not necessary to read the others first. This is the story of Felix, who has a large family of a brother and 3 sisters where he handles much of the responsibility while his mother is recovering from kidney transplant surgery. The beginning of the book was a little hard to follow because it seems to start in the middle of the story but the more I read the more I understood what was going on. Mort was the best friend of Felix's older brother Roch for many years, and was like a member of the family. Mort disappeared a yer ago without really saying why or goodbye and now he has has reappeared and wants to get back into everyone's good graces and he also has eyes for Felix who is gay just like he is. The story is a little complicated but Mort has everyone's best interests at heart in coming back but not all the Rochester's are thrilled with his return and it takes them a while to accept him again, especially Felix and Roch who were both really hurt when Mort left. A nice slow love story between Mort and Felix. Definitely enjoyed the third installment of this series. Thanks to NG for the ARC!!!

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Another win by the queen of slow burn romance!!

I went in expecting this to be as fun as the last book in the series, but this went in a very different direction. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of adorable bickering, but the focus is more on the emotional journey, and on Mort and Felix working on repairing their relationship and taking it to the next level.

The story starts a year after Mort left his friends behind without a word. The Rochester brothers and sisters were like a family for him, and he has to win back their trust. And show Felix that his crush on the older brother was just thar, and that what he really wants is him.

I actually enjoyed the angsty Felix, because his worry that Mort, his best friend since childhood, his first (and only) male crush, might still be in love with his brother, and that he is nothing but a consolation prize. I loved how Mort patiently showed him with his actions that this is not true. It was so adorable and heart-warming!

This second chance romance was just wonderful! The boys work through their issues by actual communication (*gasp*), and I loved that they were given enough time to regain lost trust before anything more happened.
If you're looking for a strong, character-driven second chance story, here it is!

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Mort Campbell returns home after leaving a year ago -- and his plans is to get his family back. Family comprises of the Rochesters, which includes his best friend, Roch, whom he has crushed on long ago, as well as Roch's younger brother, Felix, whom Mort is having all the feels NOW. But it's not going to be easy to gain Felix's forgiveness. And Mort knows he has to work on it...

Happy for You is the third installment of Anyta Sunday's Love & Family series. It can be read as stand-alone. Although, if you are a fan, you will not want to miss the previous two books. Happy for You has the Anyta Sunday's signature of delicious slow burn and words exchange that shine throughout.

There are no questions about unrequited feelings here -- Mort knows that he wants Felix in his life. And Felix, well, he has been in love with Mort for years! The only roadblock to their happiness is that Felix cannot trust his heart to Mort just yet. Felix feels that he is the more vulnerable one, because Felix knows how Mort loves Roch. Plus Mort left, a year ago, without so much of text and news afterwards.

All those moments until Felix accepts Mort again are DELICIOUS...

I do have one complain about the person responsible driving Mort away for a year though. I felt like this person didn't do enough to apologize for what happened and I wasn't happy about it *boo*.

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