Harlequin Presents Free Online Reads
Lara Preece
Plenty of free online romance novels are available for you to enjoy right now, and there's no need to spend a fortune at the bookstore. You can curl up on your couch with your laptop, tablet, or phone and satisfy your itch for a romance novel without spending a dime or even stepping outside. We've rounded up some of the top websites offering free romance books online for you to try.
Sources for free online romance novels typically allow you to download the book, read it while on the website, or read a couple of chapters every few days as the site uploads them if the book is a work in progress. The following free romance novel websites provide you with a variety of different reading methods for you to get started with your next book.
Dive into romance headfirst with many different titles to choose from with Many Books. You can sort the selection by rating and language, as well as by popularity. Once you find a title that irresistibly draws you in, you can download it to your phone or laptop since you can choose which format works best for you. If you don't want to download, it's no problem; they offer the use of their reader.
At Romantic 4 Ever, you can read two general romance novels by author Joan Reeves. Moonlight on Snow: A Love Story is a twelve-chapter story about how a case of mistaken identity can lead to love. The Trouble With Love includes twenty chapters about two professionals pretending to be a couple for work who find the job much more enjoyable than anticipated.
Mills and Boon is UK division operating under publishing giant HarperCollins. On their site, you can read a new book from one of their published authors each month. Every day a new chapter is added to that month's book so you can discover new genres, authors, and books to love. Click on the "Free Online Reads" tab to get started.
Books range in length from about eight chapters up to twenty chapters, and you can even access the free reads from previous months. Romance categories from the publisher include Modern, Historical, Supernatural, and Kimani.
At Free-Ebooks.net you can download tons of novels in different categories, including romance. Most the romance novels are available in PDF, ePub, Kindle, or TXT versions so you can read them on a computer, tablet, phone, or eReader. There are over 250 free options in the romance category. One of the helpful features of the site is you can do a preview of the first few pages before downloading to make sure the book is your style.
You can also find free romance books on Amazon if you're a Prime member. Just filter by "low to high" to see a list of options starting at zero dollars and add the ones you like to your Kindle app to read.
Bookyards has over 170 free, downloadable PDF books in the romance category (under the main fiction section), so there is something for everyone. You also have the option to convert any book to Kobo format if that's your preference. If you find an author you love, click on the tab with their name near the bottom of the book listing to find their other available titles.
Get cozy on the couch with the Sofa Novel website, brimming with options to choose from. There's no account needed and you can read the books directly on their website. If you do make an account, you can create your own digital library to find that new favorite online romance novel in a flash. Search by tags to find just the romance genre you're in the mood for.
Find romance novels online for free from independent authors at obooko. Each book is formatted as either a PDF, ePub, or Kindle version. You can sort by the newest additions or by format to find what you want. The site features thousands of free books across different genres, including romance. You'll need to create a free account to read all the eBooks offered on the site.
A haven for romance writers and romance readers, you don't need an account to fall in love at Inkitt. Simply select the romance genre and scroll away until a story catches your eye. Then, read directly on the website. If you do make an account, you can stack your reading list so there's a romance novel ready for you at the drop of a hat.
Many libraries also offer free access to Libby, an online digital library app with a huge selection of books. Simply check to see if your library participates, download the app, and add your library card to get free access to tons of romance books online.
Nook owners can get free eBooks from Barnes & Noble to use on their device. There are more than 9,000 free titles currently available to add to your Nook in the romance category. Narrow your search by choosing a genre like contemporary, historical, or paranormal romance. Click on the book you want to read for access to a sample chapter or two then add it to your cart. The book will be delivered free to your Nook after you checkout.
As one of the top publishers of women's fiction and a trusted name in the world of romance novels, Harlequin books promise to be great reads. Harlequin's Online Reads features over 350 free stories written in serialized style where new chapters are added daily.
If you give online eBooks a chance, you might find new romance book options that you love. From reading classics to discovering new authors who are trying to break into the industry, you can enjoy lots of romantic stories without paying a penny.
In the past few years, the literary community has seen waves of activism that have galvanized much-needed and overdue change in the industry. National movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have pushed publishers to recommit to accountability, representation, and social justice more broadly. Readers are challenging stereotypes, stimulating new conversations about responsible storytelling, and pushing for a more diverse, representative publishing industry.
Authors and publishers have felt compelled to respond to this intensifying form of literary criticism, which is amplified through online discourse. Authors accused of racial or other forms of insensitivity have sometimes apologized, sometimes held course. In rare cases, authors have taken the extraordinary step of delaying and editing their book to respond to criticism, even choosing to withdraw it from publication entirely. In some cases feedback is taken and changes made truly voluntarily, though it is sometimes unclear whether authors do so because they genuinely accept the critique levied against them or because they feel forced to compromise their artistic vision to appease their most vocal critics or to avoid inviting more widespread opprobrium.
Publishers, too, can feel obligated to address these criticisms, through apologetic statements, changes to author tours, or requests for edits. There have been several instances when publishers have responded by doing something far more drastic: canceling a book contract or pulling a book from circulation.
While decisions to remove books from circulation remain relatively rare, each withdrawal sets a precedent: one where publishers see jettisoning a book as a legitimate response to criticism, even criticism from those who have not read the book. The normalization of this tactic threatens to shrink the space for risk-taking and creative freedom in the publishing world.
In major publishing houses, staffers have increasingly expressed opposition to specific book contracts with writers whom they allege to be promoting forms of harm, in some cases going so far as to demand that contracts be nullified. The debate within the literary field has become a debate within publishing houses, calling into question how these publishers define and balance their mission and moral obligations.
PEN America hopes this report will shed light on these debates, offer guidance, and argue for a firm defense of literary freedom. As a society, we need to be able to engage in free debate about books without resorting to denying readers the opportunity to read these books and come to their own conclusions.
The Statement was drafted in 1953, at the height of the second Red Scare, by a delegation of over 3,000 librarians and publishers in direct response to the pressures of McCarthyism, which aimed to set new, politically driven moral standards for what ideas and perspectives were acceptable in American society. The finalized statement established commitments for publishers and librarians regarding the freedom to read.
Research for this report involved substantial desk research from publicly available sources as well as conversations with more than two dozen industry professionals, including editors, publishing executives, literary agents, authors, and attorneys. Of these interviewees, 14 of the authors, editors, and literary agents we spoke with had personally experienced or participated in a situation where a book was withdrawn from intended or actual publication. Many interviewees spoke on condition of anonymity, either to protect their professional connections or to avoid taking a public stance on a hotly debated issue.
Part II focuses on actions that authors have taken in response, while Part III focuses on actions that publishing institutions have taken. Part IV focuses on the phenomenon of publishing staff emerging as a voice of increasingly open dissent against controversial authors, to the extent of calling for publishers to cancel contracts. The report ends with conclusions and recommendations, including a call for literary and publishing institutions to uplift the Freedom to Read Statement as a set of principles that all conscientious literary citizens should support.
Review-bombs are unique to the digital age, when the virality, reach, and volume of speech can itself have a censorious effect. Criticism of books is itself protected speech, a vital part of any public dialogue about a specific work. Yet the pile-on nature of online reviewing culture creates a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, one that at its most pronounced can threaten to narrow the space for creative expression and impair the freedom to write and read.
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