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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 Story of Sweat and Love

Submitted to Contest #314

It was the hottest day of the year... And it was also my brother's wedding. I wasn't particularly enthralled when I checked the weather forecast last week for that cursed day. Preparations for this wedding had been the bane of my existence for the past 7 months. The last thing I wanted to happen was having to worry about the inconvenience of hot weather. That sounds selfish, I know. But I had aimed to turn that selfishness down a notch, just for 'the big day'. The decision of which dress to wear is a weighty one. One that requires looking a...

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Forgiveness

Submitted to Contest #314

It didn’t take a psychic to see what was in her letter. She’d found me and wanted to be part of my life. What life? You’re not exactly living La Vida Loca. Why not let go of the past? I didn’t want to argue with myself today. The warm breeze scattered the sycamore leaves I had swept into a neat pile earlier, providing a welcome break from the scorching August heat, made worse by the unusual heatwave. Reed would arrive soon. I half wished he wouldn’t come. No, you don’t. I do. He’s another person you should forgive. It’s not his fault he ...

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The Day I Met the Self-Luminous Moon

Submitted to Contest #315

Richie, I had never seen a moon shine on its own before. You approached me while fighting your way through a thick cloud of tobacco-scented smoke, and I realised I had never seen a boy this ethereal before. The way the light emitted by the old streetlight above us coloured your hair a vibrant yet dark brown, the way your eyes contained a look of pure life. The way you captivated me without having said a word. I kept quiet, mesmerised by you. You grinned and decided to be the first one to speak. “Why do you guys always occupy the best...

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The Day I Met the Wrong Person at Exactly the Right Time

Submitted to Contest #315

He didn’t rescue me. He didn’t stay. But he left me with no way back to who I was. I was sitting on the cold metal bench outside the train station—the one with the gum stuck underneath that’s been there since the ’90s—waiting for a train I had no intention of boarding. I wasn’t going anywhere. That was the whole point. I’d been there for over an hour, watching people with places to be and lives to live, while my coffee went from hot to lukewarm to that perfect bacterial petri-dish temperature. I’d been invisible all day. Which was exactly wh...

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The fox and the full moon

Submitted to Contest #314

People ran in fear trying to escape the ever burning flames that covered their homes, their crops, and even their families. But they did not fear the flame, they feared the one whose eyes are enough to make someone's heart come to a halt.Despite that not everyone ran, some were brave enough to face the demon in battle warriors who used enchanted weapons and special talismans all made to kill the demon fox who hunts when the sun no longer shines.The demon fox with 6 large tails of all different colors stared up at a full moon with not a cloud...

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Frozen Heart

Submitted to Contest #314

It was the hottest day of the year. Marcus didn't notice, naturally. Every day claimed that title now, like a desperate marketing campaign for the apocalypse. Marcus lived in his bubble of noise-canceling headphones wrapped around his skull, eyes locked on the glowing rectangle that had become his primary relationship to the world.To him, it was just Monday.The heat advisory notification buzzed against his phone. He swiped it away without reading. Just another digital mosquito in the endless swarm of information he'd trained himself to ignor...

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Vanilla Heartbeat

Submitted to Contest #314

TW: Mentions of murder, and themes of death. White. Champagne. Clear. Painfully translucent. Sickly gold! And—burnt. My lips rub together in a hard line. I glance at him. His expression is almost the same… though a tad more warm… and perhaps a bit more pissed. “Great,” he mutters, then abandons the wooden spoon onto the messy counter. He turns off the full-flame with a snap—not like it was doing him any favors anyway. We sigh in sync. I was really hoping he’d get it right this time. But the distractions from his phone got the better of him—P...

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Pyramus and Thisbe

Submitted to Contest #314

The flowers had already withered away and the berries that had been so red and plum, were hanging rotten from the branches. Thisbe and Pyramus, lying in their sorrows and regrets, were found a day later. Their blood already soaked up by the roots of the tree and the grass. Which, before was a rich green, now a dry brown that when stepping on it caused a crunch as unpleasant as that of bones dislocating. They lay there, eyes once so vibrant and alive, now looked a dull color of blue. If you looked deep into them you could see the desperation ...

6 likes 1 comment 1
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Stargazing for the Colour of Love

Submitted to Contest #314

David was a man with low self-confidence. He found uncertainty and insecurity difficult to deal with and therefore tried to avoid them in every way he could. He rarely dared to try anything that he didn't know would turn out well.David was also very much in love with Hanna and wanted to live with her as husband and wife. He believed she was fond of him too, but he wasn't sure.Nevertheless, he wanted to take the step of proposing to her.But there was a risk that he would be rejected. What if that ruined the warm relationship they had — the on...

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Diary of Emmeline Grace Carter

Submitted to Contest #314

July 14th, 1923It is the hottest day of the year…Mama says the heat makes people act strangely — says it sours the milk and curdles good sense. But I don’t think it’s the sun that’s gone to my head. I think it’s him.The morning started like a sigh. Heavy and slow, like the air itself was stuck between breaths. The kind of heat that makes your skin feel tight, like the sky’s leaning in too close. Even the bees seem drowsy, bobbing through the garden like they can’t be bothered. I hear a cicada start up just after breakfast, and the sound buzz...

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I Can't Sleep

Submitted to Contest #314

The first time Elio heard the voice, it was 3:12 a.m.A buzz. Then a hum—low, like someone breathing through static. And then: “I can’t sleep.”He blinked at the sound, half-asleep, disoriented. The voice hadn’t come from outside his window or from the hall.It came from his phone.He picked it up. No calls. No apps open. Just the black screen, glowing faintly with nothing at all.The words hung in the air, brittle and cold.“I can’t sleep.”Elio stared at the phone for a long time. Then set it back on the nightstand, face-down, like it could still...

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The Rooftop

Submitted to Contest #314

Above the dining table, a rickety ceiling fan sliced the air like a helicopter in descent. The cacophonous sound filled my ears as we sat, dipping pieces of chapattis in piping hot dal on a balmy summer day. Summers in India were my constant; the moment when the seesaw was suspended in the air, levitating above the mud and sprouts of crisp grass below. Although my silken blouses and floral dresses clung to my perspiration in the humid air of Panipat, the stickiness always flew to the back of my mind as the forefront was filled with dreams of...

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Cold As Ice

Submitted to Contest #314

Mackenzie It was the hottest day of the year and only twenty-eight degrees. Still, temps like that are considered a heat wave here in Antarctica. It was a nice break from the frigidity we usually experience, but not enough to make me miss home. I’ll never go back… same as how I’ll never trust another man. Never, never, never.It’s been nearly two years since I finalized my second divorce and fled from Florida and it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Who said running from your problems doesn’t work? And if your problems are people, what bet...

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The Grove and the Girl

Submitted to Contest #314

They call it “The Grove of Her Blessing”. A name too soft for a place that thrums with ancient breath and bone deep knowledge. Trees arc skyward in a crescent of reverence: ash with silver bark like moon-scored metal, rowan heavy with red-fruit promises, beech leaves whispering like velvet secrets. At the center lies the pool, born of a spring older than memory. Its surface so still, so piercingly clear, it doesn’t just reflect the sky; it becomes it. Women come as the seasons change. Barefoot in dew or snow, veiled in grief or joy. Maiden...

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I can’t sleep

Submitted to Contest #314

I can’t sleep.And it’s not just tonight. It’s been many, many nights now — lying awake, my body still but my heart in motion, pulled toward a man who isn’t here.He’s not sleeping beside me. And that’s why I can’t rest. Because I miss him. With a longing that settles in my bones and won’t let me breathe easily.He’s the first thought of my day. And the last one before sleep tries to find me. Even in dreams, he’s there. He never really leaves me.We’ve said I love you to each other. Many times. In soft voices. In quiet moments. In spaces between...

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RBE | RBE Romance | 2024-03

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