Looking for short romantic stories? We've gathered free short love stories in PDF, from Anton Chekhov classics to contemporary romance.
These are tales you can read in one sitting and still feel something afterward. From 19th-century masters like Maupassant and Wharton to modern voices in African literature.
Browse by era or audience. Every story is free to read online or download as PDF.
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Classics
Classic Short Love Stories
Short stories that have been read for over a century. Chekhov, Maupassant, Wharton, and O. Henry, all in the public domain and ready as PDF.
A collection of short stories by Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett. Includes Love, Lights, A Story Without an End, and other tales that explore the contradictions of romantic feeling with quiet realism.
Edith Wharton first short story collection from 1899, with eight tales including The Muses Tragedy, A Journey, Souls Belated, and The Portrait. Each story turns on the small revelations of romantic disappointment and renunciation.
A selection of thirteen tales by Guy de Maupassant, the master of the French short story. Includes stories of love, betrayal, and quiet domestic tragedy that defined the realist short story in the late 19th century.
Nathaniel Hawthorne classic 1837 collection of allegorical stories, including The Maypole of Merry Mount, The Wedding Knell, and The Gentle Boy. Tales that read love through New England guilt, custom, and quiet symbolism.
A 1906 collection of twenty-five short stories by O. Henry set in New York. Includes The Gift of the Magi, The Furnished Room, Springtime a la Carte, and other classics of romantic surprise and unexpected tenderness.
Volume II of a 1927 anthology curated by Grant Overton, gathering ten of the worlds best romance short stories. Includes Joseph Conrad, Thomas Burke, Theophile Gautier, May Edginton, and Octavus Roy Cohen on love across cultures.
A 2017 anthology of contemporary love stories from African writers, published by Brittle Paper. Includes flash fiction and short pieces by Otosirieze Obi-Young, Troy Onyango, Frances Ogamba, and others, exploring romance through African voices.
A collection of teen-written short stories from a high school writing contest, including the love story that won first place. Stories are short, accessible, and centered on themes of love, loss, and growing up.