13 Little Love Stories: An anthology inspired by Taylor Swift songs

by Elise Bryant, Jennifer Dugan, J. Elle

From bestselling YA authors comes thirteen dazzling contemporary romances inspired by the songs of Taylor Swift!

If you could live inside one Taylor Swift song for a day, which would you pick? In this shimmering anthology, thirteen best-selling and acclaimed authors do just that, reimagining some of Taylor’s most iconic songs as love stories. 

Whether you’re in an era of fairy lights and folktales or diss tracks and dance floors, here’s a playlist that features all the The soaring high note of first love. The minor key of heartbreak. And the steady rhythm of true friendship and self-discovery.

As clever and unforgettable as the songs that inspired them, these stories are sure to play on repeat in your head and your heart. 

Stories
Elise Bryant
Jennifer Dugan
J. Elle
Jessica Goodman
Sloan Harlow
Crystal Maldonado
Krystal Marquis
Katharine McGee
Julie Murphy
Lynn Painter
Laura Sebastian
Sara Shepard
Jesse Q. Sutanto

Genres: Romance, Anthologies, Young Adult, Contemporary

336 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 30, 2026

About the author

Elise Bryant is the NAACP Image Award-nominated author of Happily Ever Afters, One True Loves, Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling, and the forthcoming It’s Elementary. For many years, Elise had the joy of working as a special education teacher, and now she spends her days reading, writing, and eating dessert. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Long Beach, California. You can visit her online at www.elisebryant.com.

Reviews

[ଘRory]

💖 pre-release vibes💌:

Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play♪.
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate♪
But the writers gonna write, write, write, write, write...༄
And the readers gonna read, read, read, read, read...༄
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake♫ ♪
I shake it off,I shake it off ♪ .

[݁𝜗𝜚 tasia (matching with beloved aimes) 🧸ྀི]

LYNN PAINTER IS IN THIS. I REPEAT LYNN. PAINTER. IS IN THIS

[Annabella⁷ (henry li’s version)]

WAKE UP LADIES🗣️ I LOVE THE SOUND OF THIS💌🪩🏹🥂💖

[zoya ᯓ★]

wait stop, the premise for this book is actually fire?? and why are all the authors my fav YA authors???
I cannot WAIT for this !!

[angelpompom]

If Lynn Painter writes it, I read it. Simple math.

[Page-Turner]

𐙚⋆.˚ Pre-read 𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚
Lynn Painter AND Taylor Swift??!?!
Talk about worlds collide.
Don't wake me up, I'm living the dreammm 🩷🩷🩷

[astra]

was not expecting that list of authors

[Cadence Boudreaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t earnestly review an entire collection so i’ll write my reviews for each story separately!

Story one - fifteen.
BAD! I’d probably give this one star by itself . I understand and see what it was attempting to achieve it obviously didn’t have the proper space to try and do that. I didn’t really establish her friendship as important and so when she lost it i didn’t care as much as she did . Sorry girl. Also jesus , chill on the twilight mentions a bit? also isn’t this a love story collection? and it opens with a story about love sucking because she personally lied in her relationship? not for me .


Story Two - Love story
maybe i was too harsh on story one because this was even worse than the last? Romeo and Juliette has to be one of the easiest stories to retell , especially with the song for a storyboard . And yet? it falls so flat of the emotions and story. Again it doesn’t go with the song really , they’re forbidden lovers yes but they do not run away they end up defying standards . I don’t know i didn’t like this one at all.

Story Three - Ours

Definitely the best so far , it’s not how i interpret the song but it’s much closer to what it’s trying to be and i admire that. I do wish the ending was a bit different! but this was very fun and i liked the chemistry!

Story Four - begin again (LYNN!!!!)
PERFECT!
This is the type of energy i want the entire collection to have . Now i’m biased i admit, I love Lynn painter and her writing , but i can also tell through her story that she gets the song and is adapting it . Calling back to lyrics , banter , laughing . It’s all so fairytale and so taylor swift . This was a perfect novella and such a good adaption of begin again. I wish the entire collection was like this .

Story 5- Style
Please hold your shock when i say i wasn’t a fan of this . It was okay! It had several callbacks to lyrics which was nice but it felt like a weird song choice and storyline for a collection about love stories . It did what it needed not much to say.

Story 6- Getaway Car
this is not a love story again, which means it’s bad for the collection??? but it was such a funny ending i laughed . This one feels like a tumblr imagine that’s like “one direction does this and harry looks at you like this…”

Story 7- Cruel Summer
THISSSSS!!! this is where the collection needs to be. Super good , so cute , yearning !!!! I loved this one .

Story 8- Cardigan
Unlike how some of these are too subtly related to to the songs or taylor this one is OVERLY connected and it doesn’t work well. Peter and wendy mention was so funny , but augustine and betty already have established stories so for me i can’t picture them outside of that. I’m also never a fan of a kiss amidst a sad trauma moment so i didn’t like it .


Story 9- Willow
It’s cute ! very subtle and simple . I liked it i didn’t connect with the characters all that much but it’s good .

Story 10- Hits Different
The idea of writing a love story to hits different sums up my feelings on this story pretty much. Who is PICKING these songs?? I liked the ending but definitely a little bit jumbled the switching between past and present is a bit strange !

Story 11- Bejeweled
by far my least favorite , it’s not a love story AT ALL! and it also just didn’t make much sense

Story 12- The Black Dog
I love this one! I don’t think black dog should’ve been on the playlist to go with it but the story itself was cute! I liked it a lot . The ending was super super cute.

Story 13 - The Tortured Poets department
Not a love story so it doesn’t fit the collection, but it was well written ! i did like it .

Overall this collection was very dissatisfying to me . I went in expecting taylor swift themed love stories and several weren’t even love stories at all! Lynn painter really drove this collection home for me ! Cruel summers story as well.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this collection of short stories. It’s just hard to care about characters when you have so little time with them. Some felt a bit underdeveloped, some were not love stories at all, and some needed more oomph. Luckily, a couple of them were actually good, so, I think it’s best if I review each one individually.

My favorites:

Five Summers by Sloan Harlow ▸ 4.5 stars!! Omg the yearning!! As someone who usually doesn’t enjoy the friends to lovers trope, I did not expect to get SO invested in Will and Alex’s relationship. This was so good.

This One’s Just for Us by Jesse Q. Sutanto ▸ 4 stars. So sweet and adorable. Immediately pulled me in. Would have loved to read more of this one.

It Happened One Wednesday by Lynn Painter ▸ 4 stars. I really loved the dialogue and the writing style here. I also loved the idea of two old friends reconnecting.

The Cardigan in Question by Julie Murphy ▸ 4 stars. I was starting to wonder when we’d get a queer romance! This one is both sweet and tragic. I really liked Augustine’s outgoing personality.

The not so good:

The Grand Gesture by Elise Bryant ▸ 2 stars. The writing style was just lackluster for me. Everything about the friendship and the relationship was surface-level. Also, not a love story.

Everything Unspoken by J. Elle ▸ 2 stars. Romeo and Juliet retelling. Sadly, this one fell flat.

Group Project by Krystal Marquis ▸ 3 stars. The writing was good, but there was nothing really special about this on-again, off-again relationship.

Brake for It by Jessica Goodman ▸ 2.5 stars. The writing was okay, but this is more of a revenge story, than a love story. I didn’t care for it.

Once Upon a Grand Night by Crystal Maldonado ▸ 3 stars. This was fine. Our leads ditch their graduation party and go to a concert together, but I didn’t really feel a connection between them.

We’re Here Now by Katherine McGee ▸ 2 stars. Another friends to lovers, but this time poorly executed. Too much time was wasted on a breakup that should have happened off page. I wanted more time with the actual couple.

Fool’s Gold by Laura Sebastian ▸ 2 stars. This was another revenge story that didn’t work for me either.

Ali Gets a Clue by Jennifer Dugan ▸ 2.5 stars. The beginning was promising, but it turned out to be another bland read.

Creative Differences by Sara Shepard ▸ 2 stars. I didn’t realize how little I enjoy breakup stories until I read this anthology. This was just boring.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet collection of stories about love, heartbreak, and friendship, all tied to a different Taylor Swift song. Like most short story collections, some of these worked better for me than others, whether it matched my interpretation of the song well or had characters I instantly liked or existed as the perfect little story nugget. If you’re a fan of Taylor Swift, you’ll enjoy reading this collection, listening to the inspiration songs, and thinking about how they relate to one another.

Here are a few of my favorite stories:

It Happened One Wednesday (Begin Again) by Lynn Painter
This one is so funny and cute, I was giggling and kicking my feet (metaphorically). I love second chance romance and dual POV and cuties who are so into each other they can’t help but stare at one another in delight. Sadie and Jess are adorable and I’m so glad Jess banished that ex from Sadie’s mind. It’s pretty clear he was always the one for her. Sigh. Also, it’s not surprising to me I loved this one after loving Lynn Painter’s The Do-Over last year

The Cardigan in Question (Cardigan) by Julie Murphy
Cardigan is one of my favorite Taylor songs and I love the way Julie Murphy (already a favorite author) spun the song and turned it inside out to tell a new version. This one was so sad but also hopeful, dealing with grief, loss, and fear. Despite the sadness, there’s also so much love and joy to find, of you’re willing to seize it. And I always did wish Betty and August would get together.

This One’s Just for Us (Ours) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
I’ve read almost everything Jesse Q Sutanto has ever written so it’s no surprise that I loved this sweet, thoughtful story about two kids who don’t fit in trying to survive in a racist, bigoted town, and finding community and friendship with each other. I get why Ting’s dad moved them away from there, and why she hadn’t told Eric about her feelings and risked “ruining their friendship” but Taylor’ would tell you it’s worth it. The ending of this was perfect.

Once Upon a Grad Night (Willow) by Crystal Maldonado
Willow is my absolute favorite Taylor song and I’m so glad it had such a good story inspired by it, about letting go of your carefully arranged life, being spontaneous, and seizing the moment you desperately want. Pretty much the only thing I didn’t like was how short it was - it definitely needed to be longer because it had so much potential for character growth. I need to know how long Luca has liked Deja and if he came to grad night only to see her. I want to watch they fall In love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an early copy of this book for review purposes.

[inmyreadingera321 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a creative and fun idea! What I really liked about this was that not every story went the way you would expect; even the stories based on sad songs had happy endings, and the happy endings weren't always the endings you would predict. That made things really fun to read, because you were constantly on your toes. Some songs and approaches were more well suited for this exercise than others, in my opinion, but the anthology as a whole was overall quite good. The stories that introduced some more fantasy elements were the weakest, I think, mostly because a short story/novella didn't seem to offer enough time to really develop the world building that was necessary to really understand the story and feel deeply connected to it. My personal favorite was Lynn Painter's (of course!), which was based on the song Begin Again. I absolutely love Lynn's writing, and I think her approach to this song/story was just so well thought-out. I also really loved the story based on Hits Different, mostly because that one wrote out a story that didn't follow the song exactly but still really kept the heart of it.

This is the kind of anthology that really embodies why people love Taylor Swift's songs so much -- because they really are micro stories. And it's also evidence of why we all love love so much! In all its renditions and sources and ways of popping up in life, it's just something that always offers hope and joy and pure, unfiltered sunshine.

---------------

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

[Addison 🎀 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️
Releases July 2026, YA Romance

Thank you so much to the publisher for the Arc and Goodreads!
I was really excited to try this one because the premise sounded cozy and fun, and I love a good short story collection.
I wouldn’t call myself a Swiftie, but I do appreciate Taylor Swift’s music and the way she tells stories through her songs. That’s honestly what worked so well for me here. Each story is inspired by a different song, and it was really interesting to see how each author took those emotions and turned them into their own sweet, heartfelt stories.
I also really liked that this collection wasn’t just focused on romantic love. While there are definitely some cute romance moments, there are also stories centered around platonic relationships and friendship, which added a nice balance and made the book feel more meaningful overall.
I initially picked this up because Lynn Painter is one of my favorite authors, but I ended up discovering so many new authors I hadn’t read before, which was such a nice surprise. The variety in writing styles kept things feeling fresh, and every story brought something a little different.
The stories are short, cozy, and completely spice-free, perfect for reading between books or just picking up when you want something light and comforting. Even as someone who isn’t a hardcore Swiftie, I still really enjoyed this collection.

[Timothy Emmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were sweet, heartfelt rollercoaster emotions of stories that all hit different but with solid impact all the way through. I'm not a huge Swiftie, but after reading this book, I admire and respect the authors for fitting the themes to stories to songs as well as they did. I actually went through the playlist on a lot of these: there is a playlist and song title before each story that sets the vibe and mood, and this book pulled it off very well. I truly enjoyed the different stories, and emotions in all of these. Being a quiet, romance reader, I'm a guy, not the normal romance demographic, but, what can I I say, I'm a sap for a good romance story or novel, this fit Valentine's and any time you need a quick romance fix. I gave it 3 stars just because I thinI had been reading this a hot minute and ended up with the flu, so the last few didn't hit like the first few but, I'm blaming it on the flu, not the awesome writing here. I've definitely added all of these authors to my TBR radar, and will be reviewing more as I can. Thank you ladies for a fun dive. Happy reading, and enjoy!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a huge Swiftie and a huge reader, I was so excited for this for this one! I’ve read many of these authors before.

What I forgot is that I’m not a huge fan of short stories, especially in this genre: I just don’t think there’s enough time to do enough backstory/character-building to make these stories hit.

Like any collection, there were stories that I liked and some that I didn’t. The other thing I’ll say: good thing each story had an identified song attached to it because I never would’ve made the connection to like any of these (with one notable exception— but that actually happened to be my least favorite of the collection). The connections were loose and that’s okay— I probably should’ve expected that.

All that to say: I feel like this is a fancy, gimmicky packaging for Taylor fans. It’s fine— but nothing terribly special, IMO (even with the few stories I did really enjoy).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Deona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway and it turned out to be a really cute YA romance. I loved the concept of 13 different authors each offering their own interpretation of “romance” inspired by Taylor Swift songs. The book features 13 standalone stories with no connections between them, which made it fun to experience such a wide range of writing styles.

This would be an adorable countdown read for Valentine’s Day—one story a day. The collection includes a variety of romance tropes, from high school romance and first love to second chances, friendship and heartache. I especially enjoyed listening to the song that inspired each story before reading it. I liked some stories more than others and a few left me wishing they were full-length novels. Overall, it was a enjoyable read.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute concept and a very fun read around Valentine’s Day. That being said it doesn’t come out until June :(

This is an anthology of 13 love stories by all your favorite authors based off of Taylor swift songs. Each story begins with a song title.

Some of these were SO cute. Some of these were not for me. So I am trying to average out my feelings about it. I do think some of them really hit the mark on the song choice, while others I was like, I guess that fits? I also think I was expecting meet cutes - but it actually didn’t really feel like that. In some cases that was really cool and others it felt a bit abrupt!

I definitely recommend this to my Taylor Swift loving friends! I am definitely going to buy for my swiftie bestie when it comes out!

[Leslie Cernosek · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories VERY loosely based on Taylor Swift songs. Short stories are perfect for busy seasons, but when they are great stories, I am always left wanting more. A few of these were stand outs with really fun meet cutes or great chemistry (the Jesse Q Sutanto, Lynn Painter, and Elise Bryant in particular). A few needed more world building to understand what was happening, so they didn’t lend themselves very well to the short story format. And a few just didn’t feel like love stories. Overall, this was a fun collection and easy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very unsure how to rate this because some of the stories were fire and some were... not my speed. So I am putting a neutral, right in the middle, three stars.
I also wish these were a bit more connected to Taylor Swift's music. I feel if you hadn't said these were "inspired by Taylor Swift", I would have just thought they were stories. I guess that is also how all her easter eggs are too though.

[Kayla Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

This was sweet and I loved that they were all based around Taylor Swift songs, so perfect for swifties!! There were a few authors I had never read anything from and a few that I was super excited about! Some stories I liked more than others, looooooved Lynn Painter's story! Anthologies are great for quick reads, but then I am always wanting more from the characters and am disappointed when it's over lol! Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for my digital ARC!!

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I would buy this for a high school collection, but it didn't quite meet the needs of my middle school readers. I have a love of Taylor Swift fans, but we'll have to make to with Eulberg's THE TAYLORS and Calonita's 12 TO 22. It would be great to see a similar collection written by middle grade authors.

[Allison Brogden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that the stories didn't wrap up very well. all 13 authors are good at what they do.

[Tiffinie Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars rounded up to 3, will leave a full length review once my brain stops autoplaying TTPD on repeat

[Mae B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Cardigan, Begin Again, and Ours.