short story romance

5 Places to Read Romance Short Stories Online for Free

Casey Stepaniuk

Known in some internet circles as Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian, Casey Stepaniuk is a writer and librarian who holds an MA in English literature and an MLIS. Topics and activities dear to her heart include cats, bisexuality, libraries, queer (Canadian) literature, and drinking tea. She runs the website Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian, where you can find reviews of LGBTQ+ Canadian books. She also writes a monthly column on Autostraddle recommending queer books called Ask Your Friendly Neighbourhood Lesbrarian . Find her on Twitter: @canlesbrarian , Litsy: CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian , Goodreads: CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian , and Facebook: Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian .

View All posts by Casey Stepaniuk

Romance short stories can be a great way to fit in romance reading when you’re strapped for time. They’re also a great low-time investment way to try out a new author. But where do you find romance short stories that are easily available online and free? I’ve got you! Here is a list of places you can find romance short stories for free online. Get your HEAs or HFNs quickly, for zero dollars, and without changing out of your pajamas!

Authors’ Websites and Newsletters

Some of your favorite published authors with full-length books have short stories available on their websites or as perks when you subscribe to their newsletters! Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Courtney Milan

Lucy Parker

If you’re not reading Lucy Parker , you are missing out. Her London Celebrities series of contemporary romances is just delightful. With fun settings like the West End’s theatre district and excellently executed tropes like fake relationships and enemies-to-lovers, there’s a lot to get excited about. You can check out two free short stories of hers on her website: “ Too Wise to Woo Peaceably ” (set after book #1 Act Like It ) and “ A Pretty Face Valentine ” (set after book #2 Pretty Face ). After you’ve read the full novels that inspired those stories, check out the most recent book in the series, Making Up .

Talia Hibbert

Publisher’s Websites

In a clever ploy to get you hooked on authors who have plenty of longer works available to buy, several publishers offer low-cost or free online romance short stories by their published writers. Two (of many) options are:

Harlequin has a ton of free romance short stories available on their website. To access them, you just need to make an account with an option (but not a requirement) to sign up for promotional emails. It takes like 30 seconds! What I especially like is that they have estimated reading time (30, 45, and 60 minutes) indicated for each story, so you can pick one to finish in just the amount of time you have. How about trying an emotional romance set in South Africa featuring a Black woman protagonist like “ Blind Date with His Princess ” by Therese Beharrie? Then you can get started on one of her recent full length novels like Surprise Baby, Second Chance .     

Yvla Publishing

You might already know Wattpad as a free online platform for reading and writing all kinds of different genres and lengths of writing. But this is a reminder that it’s also a great option to go to for romance short stories!

Use the filters “romance” and “shortstories” and/or “shortstory” and voila! Other filters—depending on what sub-genres you’re into—you might want to explore are “love,” “oneshot,” “sadromance,” “eroticromance,” “sexy,” “historicalromance,” and more!  You’ll get tons of results. Look for stories that have high numbers of stars and/or reads in order to suss out higher quality stuff.

Another strategy is to seek out compilations by other Wattpad users and let someone else do the curation, like this collection of short stories put together by a dedicated Wattpad reader. Read the stories right there on the Wattpad website or using the Wattpad app.

If you’re a dedicated ebook reader, which many romance readers are, Smashwords  may be familiar. It’s an ebook distribution platform for indie authors and publishers that covers all price points—including free! Start by selecting the romance genre on the left hand side of the home page; then select the sub-genre “short stories.” Finally, under “price,” select “free.”

That’s it! Peruse the wonders of free romance short stories now at your disposal! You can download in various different formats, including pdf, ePub, mobi, and more, as well as reading right on the site.

Your Local Public Library

This is the last option on this list but certainly not least! As a public librarian I would be really remiss to exclude the wealth of free materials available at our wonderful organizations.

If you already have a card for your local public library, you can access a ton of awesome online materials without going to the physical library, including, of course, romance short stories. Most North American libraries provide access to ebooks (and digital audiobooks) through a company called Overdrive and its app called Libby. Either by downloading the Libby app to your tablet or smartphone or going to the Overdrive site on your computer, find your library from the list and create an account using your library card number.

Once you’ve logged in, you can do a keyword search for “romance short stories,” look up your favorite romance writers, or browse the romance and/or short stories categories.  You can read on your device or computer, or download and upload to an ereader. Check the website of your local library for other databases of ebooks that they may subscribe to; other options may include Hoopla , cloudLibrary , or RBDigital .

Want more romance short stories? Check out this list of erotic short stories and all things romance on Book Riot .

You Might Also Like

• All Content

Read New Romance Short Stories

12,272 results    

• Popular - Shelves
• Popular - Reads
• Contest Winners
• Audio Books

Popular Tags:

• love   ·
• romance   ·
• story   ·
• short   ·
• death   ·
• sad   ·
• fiction   ·
• life   ·
• girl   ·
• sex   ·
• heartbreak   ·
• kiss   ·
• pain   ·
• drama   ·
• friendship   ·
• fantasy   ·
• marriage   ·
• school   ·
• boy   ·
• relationship   ·
• heart   ·
• friends   ·

Boosted - Premium Member Boost

by jeffrey a. corkern

Book / Non-Fiction

Reads: 3323

Comments: 3

Short Story / Romance

March 30, 2024

by toxicc.avocado

by Pencil-in-His-Hand

March 29, 2024

by AdamCarlton

March 26, 2024

Comments: 2

March 25, 2024

by Philasande Perseverance Khoza

by Tom Rosenbeck

by johngumbs

March 22, 2024

by mariewest

by Mr. Rabbit

by Akihtawhsiv

March 21, 2024

March 20, 2024

by h j furl

Short Story / Romance /

March 17, 2024

by Sam Nash Scott

by Trisrichard03

March 16, 2024

by Nelly12.

March 15, 2024

March 14, 2024

March 13, 2024

Comments: 1

by tamasine blowes

March 12, 2024

March 11, 2024

by Kallias Matthews

March 10, 2024

by suhail cn

March 09, 2024

March 08, 2024

by Phoenix Smires

March 07, 2024

• Page 1 of 307

Discover New Books

A barbaric crime ushers a demented evil out of the...Read More

by Merville Thomas

Alecyn Johnsenn's Florida home was swallowed up by...Read More

by C.S. Zahn

In the depths of time’s mysterious embrace, Jami...Read More

by Jimi Bush

Published a book? Promote it. →

Boosted Content from Other Authors

Poem / Poetry

Book / Children Stories

Shadows Over Spectral Waters

A barbaric crime ushers a demented evil out of the shadows leaving Detective Sargent Mickey MacKinnon and his team the onerous task of trying to run a...Read More

Sinkhole: Land of Jonrah Series - Book 1

Alecyn Johnsenn's Florida home was swallowed up by a sinkhole. She finds herself in the land of Jonrah a pawn in an ancient battle of good vs evil.

Echoes In Time

In the depths of time’s mysterious embrace, Jamie’s journey unfolds—a tale of resilience, identity, and the enduring power of the human spirit. ...Read More

Welcome New Writers

• Action and Adventure
• Children Stories
• Commercial Fiction
• Editorial and Opinion
• Fan Fiction
• Flash Fiction
• Gay and Lesbian
• Health and Fitness
• Historical Fiction
• Literary Fiction
• Mystery and Crime
• Non-Fiction
• Personal Finance
• Religion and Spirituality
• Science Fiction
• Song Lyrics
• True Confessions
• War and Military
• Young Adult
• Short Story
• Book Review
• Business Writing
• Miscellaneous
• Writing Contest

Experiencing other login problems? We can help.