(Updated February 2021)
It can be easy to overspend when you’re an avid reader as there are so many great women’s fiction and chick lit books out there. However, you can cut your costs and try out some new authors free on Kindle Unlimited, Prime Reading, and those priced at only 99p on Amazon Kindle.
Signing up for author’s newsletters is also another great way to get free novels, novellas, and excerpts. You will then get all the latest news on new releases, competitions, and giveaways too.
Read on to find out some of my recent favourites and a link to a post that tells you about more ways to get books free legally.
I will keep updating this post with new titles as I find them.
My favourite free and budget book recommendations include:
Cathy Bramley – Rescue Me
Ruth Saberton – Polwenna Bay Box Set
Bernice Bloom – Diary of an Adorable Fat Girl
Alix Kelson – A Little Romance
Jennifer Joyce – Six Dates & Thinking About You
Holly Hepburn – Valentine’s Day at the Star & Sixpence
Helen J Rolfe – Valentine’s Day at the Cafe at the End of the Pier
Tammy Falkner – A Valentine’s Day Miracle
Lilac Mills – Le Tour De Love
Debbie Viggiano – The Women who Knew Everything
Debbie Viggiano – The Corner Shop of Whispers
Cressida McLaughlin – The Canal Boat Cafe
Tracy Bloom – No one ever has sex in the suburbs
Kathy Lovell – Three Men and a Maybe
Laurie Baxter – Who Does He Think He’s Fooling
JoJo Moyes – Lou Clark in Lockdown
Anna Bell – Good Girlfriend’s Guide to Getting Even – follow up
Chick Lit Books on a Budget – Free Kindle Reads
Polwenna Bay Box Set by Ruth Saberton
I’ve read several books by Ruth Saberton recently, and got a lovely surprise when I went to sign up for her newsletter. In return she sends you a box set of her lovely e-books set in Polwenna Bay, Cornwall.
Rescue Me by Cathy Bramley
Rescue Me is a free short story by Cathy Bramley that acts as a prequel to her latest novel My Kind of Happy.
It’s a moving story about the relationship between the young and the old and a loveable crossbreed dog called Scamp. It highlights perfectly the way animals can provide love, healing and companionship.
At around half hour’s reading time, it’s a perfect book for a lunchbreak of bit of time out in the afternoon.
Diary of an Adorable Fat Girl by Bernice Bloom
Diary of an Adorable Fat Girl was recommended to me by a fellow bookstagrammer and is currently free on Kindle. It’s a short read at about an hour long, but sometimes that’s all you need. It makes a good introduction to the “Fat Girl” series, several of which are available on Kindle Unlimited.
This story starts with Mary Brown joining up to a 6 week “Fat Club” in a bid to lose weight. She meets some wonderful characters and we hear of the progress they have made each week, along with what caused them to overeat in the first place.
Diary of an Adorable Fat Girl has a bit of everything – some self-deprecating humour (which we are all guilty of I’m sure) and some great characters, but it also talks about series issues such as overeating, bulimia and suicide. I think this is a great introduction to what could be a really interesting and funny series.
A Little Romance by Alix Kelso
I came across Alix Kelso on Twitter. She was offering this novella free to anyone who signed up to her newsletter so I decided to subscribe and have a read. In return a Little Romance is emailed to you and downloadable in several formats.
This story gives you a couple of hours of heartwarming reading that tells the story of two unlikely friends – Stacey, a 23-year-old shopkeeper, and Arthur, a grumpy old pensioner.
There is an old fashioned innocence to this story. A great introduction to a new author. Alix has two other books out – The Perfect Moment and The Next Forever, both available on Kindle Unlimited.
Thinking of You and Six Dates by Jennifer Joyce
Six Dates by Jennifer Joyce is another freebie from signing up for the author’s newsletter. This quick 20 minute read is a dialogue of the six dates that Natalie has whilst speed dating. These dates have a difference, they are all accompanied by cake.
Recipes for each one are printed at the end of the story which is always a welcome addition. Trigger alert: you will want to eat cake after reading.
I’ve read many books by Jennifer Joyce and they’ve all been good. She has numerous chick lit books available free to read on Kindle Unlimited.
Thinking About You was another freebie from Jennifer Joyce’s newsletter. It’s a fun 10 minute read set on Valentine’s Day about Carly who receives several romantic gestures and wonders who her secret admirer is. Perfect for a coffee break.
Free Valentine’s Books
This year, I searched my Kindle for free Valentine’s books and found there were loads available to download free. My favourites were:
Holly Hepburn – Valentine’s Day at the Star & Sixpence
Helen J Rolfe – Valentine’s Day at the Cafe at the End of the Pier
Tammy Falkner – A Valentine’s Day Miracle
Valentine’s Day at the Star & Sixpence is my first book by Holly Hepburn. It’s a sweet novella that makes a great introduction to a new author and the Star and Sixpence series.
Valentine’s Day at the Cafe at the End of the Pier is a short story that marks the beginning of Jo taking over the cafe from her family. I will definitely read more.
A Valentine’s Day Miracle by Tammy Falkner is not at all what I was expecting and I loved it. It is a story of kindness on so many levels, giving the homeless community a hand up not a hand out and forgiveness. There’s even a bit of street art in it. Highly recommended.
Pin for later
Le Tour De Love by Lilac Mills
I recently read Sunrise on the Coast by Lilac Mills and thoroughly enjoyed it so I headed off to her website to sign up for her newsletter. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lilac is offering subscribers a free download of her book Le Tour De Love.
Le Tour De Love is a story about physiotherapist Molly who joins the BeSpoke team of cyclists for the Tour De France. Whilst it isn’t a typical fluffy romance, it’s clear there is a love interest building between Molly and Alex. The technicalities of professional cycling are explained clearly in layman’s terms so it’s easy to follow, and it’s an enjoyable story that takes around 3 hours to read.
Do check out my tripfiction post for my review of Sunrise on the Coast. Lilac Mills has a huge section of back titles mostly priced 99p-£1.99.
Kathy Lovell – Three Men and a Maybe
A nice short story with a bit of ahhh factor. Free on Kindle.
Laurie Baxter – Who Does He Think He’s Fooling
A fun rom-com with a unique lighthearted storyline. Took about 45 mins to read. I will definitely check out more from this author. Free on Kindle.
Debbie Viggiano – The Woman Who Knew Everything
This is the second book I’ve read by Debbie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 40+ short easy to read chapters that make you want to keep reading. There’s a lovely relationship between the three girls all with typical and sometimes outrageous female personality traits. The story is a mix of humour and often sadness related to the girl’s relationships. There’s obviously a happy ending giving it feel good factor. Free on Kindle Unlimited.
Tracy Bloom – No one ever has sex in the suburbs
Tracy Bloom has written a whole series of “No one ever has sex …” books. Anyone with kids will identify with this one, great characters. Do check out other titles by Tracy Bloom as they are very good and many titles are free on Kindle Unlimited.
Cressida McLaughlin – The Canal Boat Cafe (Books 1-6)
Available as 4 separate stories or one book on Kindle and paperback. A lovely feel good story of life on the river with interesting, believable characters including the pets. This was my first book by this author but I have read others since and they are all as good. She has many more on Kindle including a Christmas visit to the Canal Boat Cafe. Currently free on Kindle Unlimited for books 1-6.
Lou Clark in Lockdown by JoJo Moyes
Author of Me Before You, JoJo Moyes, created a short story to read directly from your pc, tablet or phone screen. Lou Clark in Lockdown is about the strange things that happened in lockdown and also how it brought about a nicer community spirit. It might be quite interesting to read this in the future as I wonder how quickly we will all forget about it. This will make more sense if you have read the Me Before You trilogy but it’s not essential as it’s only a short piece to read when you’re having a cuppa. You can read it on the Penguin books website.
Good Girlfriends Guide to Getting Even by Anna Bell
Sign up to Anna Bell’s newsletter for a free exclusive short story which is a follow up side story to the Good Girlfriends Guide to Getting Even. This extremely short story is about Lexi’s friend Cara and her first date with Dave. It is literally only a few minutes long but it will give you the opportunity to find out about new releases, competitions, etc.
You can read my thoughts about the original GGGTGE novel in my post about rom coms.
I have also recently downloaded but not read The Apple Orchard by Veronica Henry which is free permanently on Amazon Kindle.
I will keep popping back to update this post as I read more free books on Kindle that are worthy of a recommendation.
Do you have any recommendations for free chick lit books that are on Amazon Kindle, Amazon Prime or just Kindle itself?
Or maybe you’ve found a great author by signing up for a newsletter?
You may also like to read:
* How to Get Free Books Legally
* Tripfiction Books for your Staycation
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Author’s Twitter @LilacMills @Writer_Jenn @AlixKelsoAuthor @CressMcLaughlin @DebbieViggiano @Bernice1Bloom @CathyBramley @RuthSaberton @HJRolfe
Tea & Cake For The Soul 
I’ll keep hold of this list as it’s nice to have something light to read sometimes, instead of the violent thrillers I usually end up with! Thanks for the recommendations.
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I’m already about half way through the next batch too. There are so many enjoyable reads available that are either free or very cheap.
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