I love a good romance novella or short story. Not everyone does, and that’s okay, but in case you love them like I do, here are a bunch of my contemporary faves. Most of them are sadly overlooked, but working together we can change that! (Disclosure: Amazon links are affiliate links.)
I originally posted this list in 2020, but it’s been refreshed and expanded in 2023 after I re-read many of the books here to make sure I was still enthusiastic about recommending them. However, please let me know via my contact form if you find something yikes in a book I recommend.
A Little Bit of Love’s Magic by Bambo Deen (Amazon / Goodreads)
I really enjoyed this first sapphic romance from Love Africa Press. Noura’s family is pressuring her to get married. She doesn’t want to marry without being in love, so she gets a charm to make her fall in love with her boyfriend (who is terrible). As could be expected, the charm goes sideways and Noura ends up in love with beautiful artist Bewaji. But was it really the charm? An engaging romance set in contemporary Nigeria, with some significant homophobia from various family members, but also significant support from others and a really sweet and special relationship.
Bonus: when a significant secondary character comes around to supporting Noura after learning she’s in love with a woman, they say “lesbian or bisexual” since Noura hasn’t yet specified. Given how often I see “in love with a woman” get immediately labeled “lesbian” in romances, my bisexual reader heart really appreciated this.
Life Saving Dal by Ada Maria Soto (Amazon / Goodreads)
A hopeful meet-cute / meet-sexy short story about Nathan, who needs to start getting closure on his previous relationship, and Shrikrishna, nicknamed Kris, who’s more than happy to help with that process. They meet in the bar where Nathan proposed to his husband, a year after their divorce, where Nathan is hoping for a grand romantic gesture that will reverse the end of his marriage. Instead Kris invites him to start accepting something positive from someone else. It’s a moment in time when Nathan’s life changes course for the better, and it left me with a warm little feeling in my heart.
The Truth About the Other Guy by Rhoda Baxter (Amazon / Goodreads)
A fun meet-cute short story about Aasha, whose Sri Lankan family lives in London, getting fixed up by her mother at a party. She’s been living a double life for years: good Sri Lankan girl in front of her parents, doing whatever she wants on her own time. She does NOT wants to go to this Sri Lankan party or meet this parent-approved Sri Lankan guy, who will obviously be terrible, ugh, why does everything have to be so complicated?
Figuring out the twist to the fix-up doesn’t spoil the entertainment value of this lighthearted look at the beginning of a relationship that just might be the perfect fit.
Content warning: One flippant joke about committing suicide to escape attending a party.
Bring Me Home by Roz Alexander (Amazon / Goodreads)
Haven’t been able to get this steamy butch-for-butch story out of my head since I read it! Val finds a handsome butch bartender who offers a friendly ear… and then more… Especially if you love your erotic romances with plenty of emotion, this is a great pick.
“Val’s heart might finally be healed enough to get back out there, but her confidence is still in the gutter. So, like every good lesbian before her, she cries it all out to her friendly neighborhood bartender. It’s just her luck that the bartender is a handsome butch with a heart of gold — and a thing for other butches. When they wake up together on Saturday morning, neither of them will be the same.”
Division Bells by Iona Datt Sharma (Amazon / Goodreads)
Gorgeous contemporary M/M romance set in the UK, by one of my auto-buy authors, though previously I’d only read FSF by them. After this, I’m hoping they write more romance, any subgenre welcome! If you love a romance arc about two good people who got off on the wrong foot having to find out who the other really is, I especially recommend this one. (Or if, like me, you’re a former government employee, as both of the main characters work in government and *wow* was this so real.)
“It’s a bitterly cold winter in London and Jules Elwin has no idea what he’s doing. As the newest special adviser to a government minister, he’s drowning in arcane procedures and party politics, and the civil servant who’s supposed to be helping him is doing nothing of the sort. Ari is sarcastic, intolerant and has no time for a special adviser who’s only there because his father is a peer of the realm.
Jules is only one of Ari’s many problems. As well as nursemaiding a special adviser, he’s got to get a Bill through Parliament, keep his irrepressible minister happy and stop his esteemed colleagues from hiding alcohol in their filing cabinets. And there’s something else, too: a deep, unspoken grief, that’s consuming him like frost.”
Note: This has a positive Harry Potter reference. The book was published in 2020 so likely finished quite a bit before the news about JRK had percolated widely.
Falling Into You by Ruby Grandin (Amazon / Goodreads)
Sweet, adorable short story that begins when Astrid -literally- runs into a gorgeous blue-haired woman. She apologizes, hands over a gift card to make up for spilling the woman’s coffee, and goes on with her day. But on a hike with a friend, Astrid sees the woman again… is it a sign? Then again, Astrid has terrible luck, so who knows whether she’ll be able to make a real connection?
I really enjoyed the humor and misadventures here, as well as the zingy feeling between the characters. They just like each other so much, it’s so cute, aahhh! Well worth the read.
Thank Me Later by Christina C. Jones (Amazon / Goodreads)
Sadly for me trying to add this story to this post (which needs a certain amount of text after each book or the foamtting goes bonk), this is the entire blurb:
“It’s the season of giving, so doing a solid for a friend of a friend isn’t that big of a deal.
That is… until it is.”
So I’ll tell you that this is a fake dating romance, and the guy and the gal in question are both lovely. The moment when they discover their unexpected connection is really heartwarming, and I thought this short novella did a fantastic job showing us the exact right amount of the beginning of this relationship for the length of the story.
I Didn’t Sign Up For This by Anita Kelley (Amazon / Goodreads)
I’m a sucker for a “how they met” romance short story, and this sapphic short was perfect. Kiki (cis) just got dumped in the middle of her Christmas vacation abroad with her girlfriend. Maya (trans) rescues Kiki from her possibly ill-advised decision to go skiing for the first time by herself anyway.
I loved how Kelly handled the fact that Kiki just got dumped and is in a weird place alongside the truth that sometimes when you meet somebody, you meet somebody, even if the timing is bizarre. Good stuff!
Conversation Hearts by Avon Gale (Amazon / Goodreads)
The most lighthearted romance short story about a sex worker and an assassin that you’ll ever read.
(I feel like somebody just went and bought this based on that sentence.)
Levi Barron is a literature graduate student who pays for school with sex work. He likes his job! But when his client doesn’t show up and scary assassin Sinjin breaks into his room to use his window to shoot someone… they end up sleeping together. Because reasons! The story is so short that I’m not going to tell you anything else, but let’s just say that the ending had me smiling with delighted hope.
Truth or Dare by Brianna Ocampo (Amazon / Goodreads)
“Nine years in the friend zone. One night to break the rules.
Cassie Flores has been in love with her best friend forever. When she finally dares Santino to make a move, the truth will either break her heart…
…or capture his for good.”
Ocampo is part of the Filipino author group known as #romanceclass. She does a fantastic job blending the sexiness of the evening she describes with the significant feelings between the two main characters. Sexy and fun but also emotional – the conversation they both have to have near the end about why they haven’t been together all this time is a little heartbreaking in such a good way, while also laying a good foundation for their relationship to work out.
I feel like this is a fantastic example of erotic romance – a story about a romantic connection told through a plot driven by a sexual encounter. Really good writing and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Volatile Reaction by Magnus Thorne (Amazon / Goodreads)
I’m not usually an erotic romance reader, but I really enjoyed this M/M short story with an assassin POV MC. Transmasc LI, transmasc author. HFN.
The author bills it as an erotic suspense thriller rather than erotic romance, but the suspense didn’t strike me as that suspense-y, idk. The aesthetic is more “two kinda messed up people clicking unexpectedly in gritty low-rent apartment building” than “sleek jetsetting assassin loses his heart” so if the former sounds like your jam, check it out. (And note, the neighbor guy is initially thought of by the assassin as “a kid” but he’s in his early 20s.)
Like a Thief and an Assassin by Johannes T. Evans (Kobo Plus / Amazon / Goodreads)
This is so fun and funny in addition to having delicious tension. If you don’t mind your MCs morally grey, check this one out. MC is 36, the LI is estimated by the MC to be 60-70. Sexytimes are off-page.
“A thief-for-hire mounts a seduction of his handler.
Rated M, 6,7k, M/M. A kooky thief at a for-hire intelligence agency starts to romance his handler. Banter and some back-and-forth, mounting sexual tension, age difference. Tone is playful and restrainedly horny.”
Granddad’s Cup of Tea (Amazon / Goodreads)
I haven’t had a chance yet to write a review, but this romance between two widowers has become one of my comfort re-reads:
“Widower Ewan lives a quiet life in his country village, helping out with his grandchildren and dodging his daughter’s attempts to improve his social life by signing him up for every retirement club she can find.
When he meets Alex, newly bereaved and taking his first tentative steps into living out and proud after a lifetime in the closet, Ewan reaches out to offer sympathy. As their friendship deepens, Ewan finds himself questioning both his own identity and the nature of his feelings for Alex. But is it too late for a second chance at love?”
Five Dates by Amy Jo Cousins (Amazon / Goodreads)
Charming little age-gap romance novella between Devin Hollister, who’s put his love life on the back burner to help his sister raise her child, and Jay Gomez, a younger man who usually dates older men, but has decided hell no to that, he’s tired of being condescended to for his age and his job in a retail store. If only Devin’s sister hadn’t used a photo of him from years ago on the online dating profile she set up for him before setting him up on a date with Jay.
Most of the story is will-they-won’t-they because Jay is initially furious about being tricked, Devin is seriously enamored with Jay but valiantly trying to find someone else to date, Jay is trying to stick to his guns on the “no older guys” front and struggling with insecurity, but they can’t keep their hands off each other. And Jay is so mad about it (in a fun way)! Both characters are delightful and I rooted for them all the way.
The Kiss That Totally Rocked by… me! (Buy directly from me / Retailers, Kobo Plus, Everand / Hoopla)
The first short story in a series I’ve had fun with. Each short story is a lovely first date, with MCs in their 40s and early 50s finding romance. The first one has a clueless sapphic, because I will never get tired of writing those haha.
“Delia’s family left Colorado over thirty years ago, before her senior year of high school, and she never moved back. She left her friend Iris behind.
Six months ago they reconnected. Now the brightest spots in Delia’s life are daily texts from Iris, tandem movie-watching dates, and staying up way too late talking on the phone.
Tonight, Delia is going to see Iris for the first time in over three decades. Possibly hug her. Possibly something else, too? If that’s what this is.
Okay, yeah, Delia has no idea what this is.
This evening is going to be interesting.
The Kiss That Totally Rocked is a kisses-only sapphic first date short story with middle-aged main characters, a retro rock show with a twist, and an HEA for a slightly clueless bi gal and the lesbian cosmetologist of her dreams.”
The One He Brought Home, also by me (Buy directly from me / Retailers, Kobo Plus, Everand)
Thanks so much to my ace beta readers who helped me on this one!
“Orlando has a thriving accounting practice and more rescue dogs than any reasonable person probably should. He doesn’t need gregarious animal shelter volunteer Noah making puppy dog eyes at him about leaving a sad little canine behind.
He probably doesn’t need Noah asking him on a date, either. Allosexuals are usually more trouble than they’re worth.
The problem is, puppy dog eyes demonstrably work on Orlando, or he wouldn’t be hip deep in rescue dogs. Also, unlike most people, Noah seems to have at least a couple of clues about asexuality.
Hrmph. Maybe it’s worth taking a chance after all?
The One He Brought Home is a kisses-only first date short story with middle-aged main characters, grilled cheese sandwiches, and a Happy for Now ending for a tattooed panromantic asexual guy and an allosexual gay man with pink hair.”
The Gentleman’s Rentboy Service, a series of novellas by Randi Luxe (Amazon / Goodreads)
The Gentlemen’s Rentboy Service is a series of four somewhat interconnected novellas. The format is a little unusual, which each novella being (presumably) the first installment about a different young man working as a prostitute for the same high-end service.
Each story only hints at an HFN later rather than ending with paired up couples, and it’s unfortunate that Luxe wasn’t able to come back and write the installments that would have given us the romance HEA/HFN closure, but I’m including them here anyway for readers whose imaginations- like mine – are happy to simply fill in the endings. I’m doing this because stories 2-4 are some of my fave romance-neighborhood shorts of all time.
The second story is about Wayne, an indie punk rocker, who’s sent to wealthy silver fox Kevin. All Wayne was hoping for was enough money to keep his band on the road, but he doesn’t expect his instant attraction to Kevin or not being able to put the guy out of his mind afterwards. I LOVED Wayne.
The third story is about bubbly, generous Marti being sent as a gag gift to the office of panicking businessman Victor, whose brother is trying to destroy his company. Marti’s mission in life is to make others happy, so he wrangles a solution to the business problem (with a cameo by Shane) before also, you know, relieving Victor’s personal stress. Job well done!
In the fourth story, former street prostitute Peter is sent to Elias, a billionaire who seems to want a… date? Like, dinner and talking and watching a movie on the couch and stuff? Peter is confused and skittish, struggling with what the Gentleman wants him to learn from his first job with this gentle, gorgeous client. His emotional arc in this one is just beautiful.
Luxe starts each story with what seems like a straightforward sex-based plot, but then takes each to a totally different emotional place. (Not that there’s anything wrong with a straightforward sex-based plot!) This is true within each novella, but also a progression across the four. Very well written, and I will keep my quiet hopes alive that Luxe may come back and add to the series someday.
And that’s the list!