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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of romance short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

150+ 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.

Romance Short Stories – Page 2 of 10

A Serendipitous Dip

Submitted to Contest #319

Water trickled down the curve of a razor-sharp fang, over a blue lip, and into a wiry, green beard, soaking a patch of gray fur beneath. A behemoth, clawed hand reached up to wipe away the next tear that rolled from a yellow eye with a slitted pupil. This was the beast’s nightly ritual—return to hovel (be it cave or abandoned woodland cottage), eat whatever creature he had slaughtered on the day’s journey, weep, then fall into a fitful sleep. Every fortnight or so, however, he broke his routine. On these nights, the beast would creep toward...

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The Symphony of Shadows

Submitted to Contest #319

The Symphony of Shadows The city quivered like prey, its towers rattling with anxious light, its alleys whispering the rot beneath the glow. I slid between its cracks, not the illness itself but the whisper of its fever, a presence too patient to be seen until too late. And in that suffocating hush, I fixed upon the only heartbeat I craved—Nova. Tonight, I would not let my Bambi escape me. Oakhaven, with its charming cobblestone streets and quaint coffee shops, was a stubborn adversary. Their unwavering belief in their mundane lives, their b...

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Nell Hardwick and the Ambush near Aldbourne Chase, 18th September 1643

Submitted to Contest #319

[Content warning: Violence, profanity and lots of mud]On 5th September the Royalist siege of Gloucester was lifted by the Earl of Essex and his army and the grateful citizens showered them, including Nell, her husband Bill and their comrades in the London Trayned Bandes with bread, cheese and ale, which more than made up for the short commons they’d been forced to endure on their march to the city. With the siege raised, it had been time to march back home to London. The Londoners had insisted, and the Earl of Essex had no choice but to cave...

6 likes 8 comments 8
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I, Object

Submitted to Contest #319

They laugh. I want them to take me seriously. But they always laugh. To them, I’m a wise-cracking dummy. They don’t know me. Not the real me. I’m merely a funny name, Uncle Knucklehead.I’m helpless. And there’s nothing I can do about it. Having no power, I’m nothing but a tool in the hands of a manipulative, controlling maniac, Kurt Felix. He calls himself a ‘ventriloquist.’ How elevated. How sophisticated. How bombastic. How Kurt.Does he act out of envy? Who puts words in his mouth? Am I his dog to kick? Whose stick does he fetch?Regardless...

18 likes 13 comments 13
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Paragliding through Paradise Lost

Submitted to Contest #319

Elias Veyra had grown up in a house where justice was only a word. His father, a high-court judge, was admired in public but monstrous at home. His father tormented him , mixing it with fists and words until Elias's life became a prison gilded in gold. The public was too blind to see the cruelty festering behind the closed doors. He beat Elias when he stumbled, mocked him with the fates of the men he sentenced, and once forced him to watch a beggar plead in court only to laugh as he signed his imprisonment. Elias swore that day he would neve...

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One Single Red Balloon

Submitted to Contest #319

*Contains mentions of mental health issues and drug use* “Don’t go to the skatepark, Hitoshi. Please!” “It’s fine, Mom. They’re tearing it down, just gonna get some last looks. That’s all.” Hitoshi steps out, turning to close the door behind him. Seeing the uneasy look on his mother’s face, Hitoshi thinks to himself. “Always worrying.” Taking a familiar path through the city, feeling the late summer air as the afternoon slowly turns to evening. His miles trek leads just meters from his destination. A young woman of his age photographs the de...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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The Milkman

Submitted to Contest #319

The hedgerows file past in a green blur that mirrors the passage of time. He does not notice this. Few ever do. That is a lie that they tell themselves. Yet another filter. He sees so much, but most of it is lost. Filed away in the file called bin, headed for the landfill site of his subconscious. In amongst the flotsam and jetsam there is gold. The litter wilfully discarded during the course of a misspent lifetime smothers the answers to the questions that must be asked in order to make sense of life. And asked to establish who he really is...

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The Hunger Within

Submitted to Contest #319

(Content Warning: some mature content and graphic scenes) I want to tell you a story. My name is Seraphine. I was born, what you humans call, a vampire, the curse of my mother and grandmothers woven into my genes. Only women can carry the gene, there are few of us who remain. I’ve met others, those of us who cheat mortality but are bound to blood for eternity. What you see when you look at me is something of an illusion. Upon the twenty seventh anniversary of my birth, my body ceased aging. I have maintained my youthful appearance, as you s...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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Solarium Girl: A Devotion

Submitted to Contest #319

The salon opens at ten, but I awaken before the lights flicker on. I feel the sun through the smudged glass of the storefront—the real sun, too far away to matter. Here, in this suburban pocket of Los Angeles where the air smells like pink bubblegum and exhaustion, no one wants the real thing. They want me. They want the version of themselves they imagine beneath my lid. Bronze. Glossy. Invincible. And I give it to them. Every time. I know them all. The bride-to-be with the uneven arms who cries when she thinks no one hears. The teen who rea...

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The Dating Doula

Submitted to Contest #318

I finish washing up—one cup, one plate, one fork. I’m passing by the door on my way to watch TV all by my lonesome when I hear voices. The words are muffled, but the tones are unmistakable: exasperation and persuasion. I fetch my trusted ear-cone and press it to the door. “What are you doing here?” Rhiannon’s tone carries clear as a bell. She used to sing in a popular choir until she quit it a couple years ago because she was working so many evenings.“One last chance, babe. Hear me out.” Eddy’s voice is half-comfortable sweater, half-existen...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Whiskey and Lilacs

Submitted to Contest #319

She was the definition of perfect, and everything I could never be. A princess who was on track to inherit the throne after her father, beautiful enough with a personality to match and capable of charming anyone she met. I was the shadow that lurked in the dark of the courtroom, everyone knew I didn’t belong here, wasn’t born into the rank I had or the status that came with it. Instead I clawed my way up through the ranks, forging a name stained in rumors of the deals I’ve made. Some of them whispered my name in reverence while others curse...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Family Wedding Drama

Submitted to Contest #318

Mom gave me a hug as Dad came over to caress my hair, and he whispered, “Sweetheart, it’s okay. We had no idea you’d been feeling this way. But I don’t think now is the right time or place to have this kind of discussion.” He gave me a tissue to wipe my face, and for a moment I was calm. He’s right, but at least I had the chance to let them know how I’d been feeling, after all these years of quiet resentment toward Yancey. She only shook her head. “You’re being so dramatic, it’s pathetic. Just a minute ago, you called me a whore! How can y...

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Sara's wedding

Submitted to Contest #318

I didn't want to marry him. I loved him, but the thought of spending the rest of my life with that man was making me nauseous. I couldn't vomit, though, or I would mess up the dress, the huge, sparkly, and sexy wedding gown I'd spent a fortune on months before. Months. I felt so good when he proposed. I felt special, although I knew what he'd planned before he popped the little ring box. I had seen that very same little silver container days before, when I picked up his trousers from the floor in the bedroom, but I had kept that discovery t...

19 likes 8 comments 8
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Double Surprise

Submitted to Contest #318

Natalie could handle secrets. What she couldn't do was surprises. The anticipation of the excitement was always almost too much to bear. The thing is, she was also a master event planner. She was the go-to person in her friend group when birthday parties or baby showers needed to be held, so it wasn't surprising when her best friend Damian reached out.“I want to propose to Caine,” he said, fidgeting with the button on his shirt cuff. “I have a ring picked out and on hold, but I need help with- well, with everything else.” He shrugged his sho...

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Fake It Till You Make It

Submitted to Contest #318

The stench of cheap beer and regret fills my nostrils as Gavin presses me against the Kappa house bathroom's marble tiles. His hands fumble with my shirt buttons while I try to convince myself this is what I want...to finally fit in, to be desired by someone who looks like he stepped out of a movie. But his touch feels wrong. Like he's checking items off a list: Hook up with ethnic girl. Check. "Sita, are you in there?" Anika's voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts. "Get rid of her," Gavin breathes against my neck, and something in his en...

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RBE | RBE Romance | 2024-03

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