11240+ Romance Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From the thrill of a first date to a snapshot tour through an entire relationship, our collection of romantic short stories will give you everything your heart desires.

🏆 Winning stories

“Men on the Moon” by Lonnie Russo

🏆 Winner of Contest #264

Nobody at NASA gave a goddamn about the weather in Jersey. This fact, as true and as simple as it was, had not stopped my Aunt Rosie from pacing around the parlor all morning and pressing her face to the front window in search of thunderstorms. My mother had yelled at her for smearing rouge on the glass, and she, of course, had yelled right back. And soon, everybody was yelling. It was the day of my brother Eddie’s wedding, the day of the moon landing, and rain meant a lot of things. It meant a shower of good fortune, pouring out from G...

104 likes 85 comments 85

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“Do Not Touch ” by Niamh O'Dea

🏆 Winner of Contest #242

Jen lived by the unwritten rules of being single but wanting a child. Don’t look at children. Don’t engage with children. Don’t talk about children. Don’t let other people talk about their children. And don’t, for the love of all that is holy, tell anyone you long for a child. A nearby suitor could be eyeing you up, biting their bottom lip at the sight of your untoned bum, lusting after your wide midriff, admiring your conical legs. They could be subconsciously sliding you through their mental mold of their dream woman, seeing you slot in j...

142 likes 86 comments 86

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“Lost and Found” by Jonathan Page

🏆 Winner of Contest #240

On my last shift as a lighthouse keeper, I climbed the seventy-six spiral iron stairs and two ladders to the watch room, the number of steps the same as my age. The thwomp and snare of each step laid an ominous background score. Something wasn’t right. At that very moment, Richie Tedesco was pointing a fire extinguisher at the burning electrical panel in the engine room of his boat a few miles offshore.The placard in the watch room read “Marge Mabrity, Lightkeeper—First lighted the depths on March 2nd, 1985, and hasn’t missed a night.” Alrea...

156 likes 133 comments 133

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“The Saskatchewan Winter Wind” by Maxx Randell

Submitted to Contest #281

Laying there in the dark, he listens to the wind howl. Laying there, he listens to the wind howl through the open crack of his window. Laying there under his wool blanket, he tries desperately to block out the cold. With his brother kicking him in the back, trying to force him out from under the covers so they don’t have to share, the winds on the farm do nothing but howl. If not through some split in the wood or break in the house boards, they find it in the barn and project their echo. Even as the winds bring the Christmas snow, they howl ...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“Ashes of the Sun” by Akshaya J

Submitted to Contest #281

Perfection should not exist theoretically. But against all forces of nature, it did, and not only did it exist, it lived and breathed in the body of Cyrus Egner.  Cyrus was the sun. Everyone around him were mere rocks that orbited his presence. Everything about it was infuriating. But even more frustrating was the fact that I could not hate him for it.  I was only 6 when I first met him. My mother had been making Tamales in the kitchen, and I had clung to her legs, begging her to let me try as well. Someone had knocked on our front...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“The Lancet Pen” by Cyan Villanueva

Submitted to Contest #281

It’s December, and I am stuck in a constant state of irritation and perpetual wincing at the mere mention of jolly ol’ Nick, the happy festivities and the hope of a snow filled Christmas. And who can forget about the biting cold?But there is nothing happy, at least not for me, I am not a holiday person. Don’t call me Scrooge or the Grinch, they at least got some heart to them at the end of those stories.This is not such a story. I work a monotonous job, hour after hour spent hunched over a desk, day after day. And at the end of tho...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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✍️ All stories

“In July” by Rubekkah Estero

Submitted to Contest #281

‘Queensland is set for the coldest day of the year today, so pull out those jackets and coats…’ ‘Huh! Perfect timing,’ Dad says, rubbing his hands together with glee as I make my way down the stairs. ‘Georgie! You heard the weather man. Where’s your ugly Christmas sweater?’ I groan and loll my head back. ‘It might be the coldest day, Dad, but it’s still 26 bloody degrees out!’ Everything is relative, and in far north Queensland, cold is just another word for stinking hot. ‘No one should be wearing sweaters this ...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“The Saskatchewan Winter Wind” by Maxx Randell

Submitted to Contest #281

Laying there in the dark, he listens to the wind howl. Laying there, he listens to the wind howl through the open crack of his window. Laying there under his wool blanket, he tries desperately to block out the cold. With his brother kicking him in the back, trying to force him out from under the covers so they don’t have to share, the winds on the farm do nothing but howl. If not through some split in the wood or break in the house boards, they find it in the barn and project their echo. Even as the winds bring the Christmas snow, they howl ...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“Christmas From the Dog's Perspective” by Nora Thompson

Submitted to Contest #281

“Can dogs get seasonal depression?” Amanda asked whoever she was on the phone with. The cellphone was pressed against the side of her head with her shoulder while she tried to type at her computer.  The other person said something and Amanda laughed. “He just seems so sad.”  I returned to my spot on the couch, it was directly next to the radiator and the window. Amanda’s apartment let in a draft through the window and the radiator made up for it. Somehow this spot on the end of the couch was the perfect temperature.  I’d only ...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“Ashes of the Sun” by Akshaya J

Submitted to Contest #281

Perfection should not exist theoretically. But against all forces of nature, it did, and not only did it exist, it lived and breathed in the body of Cyrus Egner.  Cyrus was the sun. Everyone around him were mere rocks that orbited his presence. Everything about it was infuriating. But even more frustrating was the fact that I could not hate him for it.  I was only 6 when I first met him. My mother had been making Tamales in the kitchen, and I had clung to her legs, begging her to let me try as well. Someone had knocked on our front...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“Mia & Mistletoe ” by Miguel Vazquez

Submitted to Contest #281

Mia was examining herself in the bathroom mirror of her high school. Rearranging her plaid headband till she was sure no hair stuck out. Tightening her belt so that her skirt and shirt didn’t feel too loose. ‘Loose clothes are baggy clothes and baggy clothes never look good.’ After several minutes, nearly half an hour, Mia looked to the mirror content with herself. Smiling at how beautiful she was. How lovely she made herself.  The illusion broke with the sound of approaching small chatter. Mia flinched and found herself looking around ...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Where Souls Linger” by S. D. Vogt

Submitted to Contest #281

Where Souls Linger The end, when it came, was both sudden and agonizing. Nathan remembered only fragments: the crushing exhaustion behind his eyes after another endless day; the momentary lapse when he gave in and closed them, just for a second; the bend in the road, unseen until it was too late; and the way gravity pulled his car into a deadly descent. His life didn’t flash before his eyes. Instead, in those fleeting moments of consciousness, regret filled him like a weight he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying. At thirty-two, happiness see...

1 like 0 comments 0

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“O Tannenbaum!!” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #281

O Tannenbaum!!“Taking down the Christmas tree makes it feel official: time to get back to joyless and cynical.”-Greg FitzsimmonsMarv’s Tree Farm- Endeavor, WisconsinEvergreens at all stages of development, from the 3” seedings to the twelve footers, dotted the entire 100 acres. There was a wave of change across the landscape each year as mature trees were cut down and replaced by a new, younger crop. November is always a time of great excitement at a Christmas tree farm.“Do you think they’ll chop me down and ship me off somewhere this year?”...

19 likes 3 comments 3

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“Noble Prickly Love ❤️ 🎄” by Laurie Spellman

Submitted to Contest #281

As a sapling, I was teased relentlessly since my branches were too skinny. Raised at Wintervale Christmas Tree Farm, my two nursery mates, Sappy and Piney, took root alongside me. The grower grumbled as he shoveled the dirt. I was the runt of the grove and probably would not amount to a Noble Fir. He planned to use me for firewood if nobody wanted me. When he examined me, he said: "I'll call this one Prickly."On cutting day for Noble and Fraser Firs, who had turned fifteen that year, the most regal of the season would be crowned. But I didn'...

11 likes 14 comments 14

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“The Lancet Pen” by Cyan Villanueva

Submitted to Contest #281

It’s December, and I am stuck in a constant state of irritation and perpetual wincing at the mere mention of jolly ol’ Nick, the happy festivities and the hope of a snow filled Christmas. And who can forget about the biting cold?But there is nothing happy, at least not for me, I am not a holiday person. Don’t call me Scrooge or the Grinch, they at least got some heart to them at the end of those stories.This is not such a story. I work a monotonous job, hour after hour spent hunched over a desk, day after day. And at the end of tho...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“Am I crazy?” by L Humpherys

Submitted to Contest #281

“I have a gift for you!”“A gift??” I answered as I turned around to look at her, already suspicious!“Yes. A gift!” She smirked excitedly. She could barely keep her words from overflowing out as she handed over a paper with a written down phone number. “…Before you say no, He’s really nice! …and cute!! Just try it out. Don’t shoot me down!”   Katie was a good friend, but a wild one.  She is married now, but oh boy had her stories before marriage scared me half to death. She had been pushing me to talk to this “friend” of hers. ...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“The Coldest Day in Kirksville” by Zoe Dye

Submitted to Contest #281

Kirksville, Missouri, February 11th, 1983 I awoke in my bed with my dachshund curled up next to me, shaking like a leaf. My feet were so cold I couldn’t wiggle my toes and my fingers felt like ice bricks. I covered my dog, Poppy, with my heated blanket, along with myself, and turned it on to the highest setting. I reached over to my night stand and grabbed my glasses. I put them on my face which instantly made it colder. I looked over at my thermostat. Forty-seven degrees!?! That can’t be right. I got out of bed, put on my slippers, and trie...

6 likes 1 comment 1

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“David and Leena” by Ava Wolfe

Submitted to Contest #281

“I wish this could just be a normal Christmas,” 26-year old David said. He was upstairs in the home he lived in alone. Usually, he wouldn’t choose to be in this particular upstairs room, since he spent most of his time downstairs where the kitchen and his bedroom were. But he found himself up there, peering out onto the rest of his neighborhood through the frosty window, after another monotonous day of work. He had been distracted all day, wondering how to amend things with his girlfriend. All of a sudden, the old creepy fireplace started to...

7 likes 6 comments 6

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“It's a Deal” by Guinnevere Rose

Submitted to Contest #280

"Come out, come out wherever you are....Hellooooo, dark and powerful magical creatures. Where are you hiding?...I know you're out there. Here I am a young virgin girl, just ready to be eaten or whatever it is you do. I doubt you see a lot of my kind in your world, you might as well take this opportunity-" "Hmph. You think us creatures of darkness are that easy to trap?" "Aha it worked! But where is your voice coming from? Tell me where you're hiding." "Where do you think I'm hiding, little one. I'm a shadow creature. I'm in the shadows." "Co...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“Lines (In-Between) Lines” by R. Leinad

Submitted to Contest #280

Contains: Strong/Explicit language“I am so sick of being the only one at work that’s broke.”“What do you mean? We have money. We can save, we just have to watch our spending.”“Sure we can or do you mean I have to save? I have to make the money. (I am so tired)”“Wait. What the heck does that mean? What are you trying to say?”“I am just saying, when are you going to pick up the slack? (This is your fault) You are always broke and always having to touch the savings. (I wish I had a better partner) It’s like I put money in there and it just disa...

7 likes 1 comment 1

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“To Kill A God” by Wan Roina

Submitted to Contest #280

“Come here. Lie down,” Aphrodite said in a firm yet caring tone, to which Ares obliged. He sighed deeply as he laid his head on the cushion on her lap. His skin, as if seeped in blood and iron, flooded her nostrils even after the long bath he took. Begrudgingly, she decided it would be of little concern at that moment. His blood thirst and affinity for chaos was incomprehensible yet wildly enchanting to her. She stroked his brow unconsciously, wondering if she could understand the ways of this god. All the while, he inquisitively stared at h...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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