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

12000+ 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 6 of 800

Vows in the Dark

Submitted to Contest #301

The night before the wedding, the venue fell quiet as guests left into the warm breeze and bird song after a long day of rehearsals. Eva lingered behind in Celina’s suite, finishing some last-minute preparations. The dress hung from the open wardrobe, half-covered in glistening diamantes that caught the light like the disco ball in the main hall. The veil lay draped across the soft white sheets. On the vanity were silver jewellery, shoes, an emergency kit, and the gold ring passed down from Celina’s late aunt, adorned with a glittering centr...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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A Night to Remember

Submitted to Contest #301

Carl dropped onto the cold metal seat, weariness coursing through every sinew of his body. Though recently repainted Jelly Belly yellow, the seat was just as hard and uncomfortable as when it was gun-metal grey.Sliding doors whooshed shut in an audible exhale. The train lurched forward, sucked into the black depths of the tunnel that ran for miles and miles beneath the busy metropolis. Straps, suspended from the ceiling, swayed as the train picked up speed, the car rocking back and forth, its soothing click-clack, click-clack, a rhythmic pul...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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The meaning of Mangoes

Submitted to Contest #302

Some things are so simple, they defy translation. A glance. A sigh. The way someone slices fruit for you in silence and lays it on a plate without a word. And sometimes, it's not the words we misunderstand, but the meanings we load into them — the histories, the hurts, the assumptions we didn't know we carried. This is a story about a mango. And something far less sweet. It began with a mango.Not just any mango, but a perfectly ripe Alphonso — golden-orange skin blushing red at the tip, velvet-soft to the touch, and aromatic enough to halt c...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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Never Trust an Online Lover

Submitted to Contest #301

Claire Summers knew this was very wrong and inexcusable, but she was going to catfish Erika. After all, she’d had a sixth sense about Hunter since the first time Erika and Hunter ever started going out. Even back then, she did not trust Hunter Walsh one bit. She knew he was trouble, and guys like him were so frustratingly irresistible to young women for whatever strange reason. She knew her daughter deserved better, much better than what Hunter could ever give her in a lifetime. Claire learned to become more social media and technologically ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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The Context of Infinity

Submitted to Contest #301

Before I met August Dew, and before she took my five year old hand and introduced me to myself, I was somewhat of a insouciant dreamer, a renegade cipher, an insubstantial wraith shimmering on the horizon like an oasis in a lost, thirsty world. I didn’t exist in any meaningful way to myself, so that was amply reflected in the way others saw me. I drifted like a hungry ghost, from job to job, lover to lover, sifting up from the desiccated soil any measure of sweet water I could find. I existed as reams of dark, complex code in numerous crypts...

5 likes 8 comments 8
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Fire catchers

Submitted to Contest #301

In a Fire Overseers’ tower, full of nothing but stairs, there was an attic room for recess, right under the rooftop. It was just a lazy hour before noon, streets of the capital already sweltering under the uncharacteristically insistent April sun. Currently the shift of the firefighters consisted of two differently blond men employing their skills in avoiding the anxiety build-up that was inevitable during the recess-time in their line of work.“Gonna make coffee,” the whiter blond stood to take a briki. He shuffled towards the other man who ...

7 likes 3 comments 3
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Myra and The Big No

Submitted to Contest #301

Myra boss-walked through Farina's Sports Bar and Grill, partially because she was late meeting her sister but mostly because the numerous televisions were causing her to feel overstimulated and she was concealing this with authoritative and deliberate motions. She stopped as she neared the bar, realizing she had forgotten to look for Rozzie. Several men turned from their barstools to see who was walking behind their backs. She was caught off guard by their astute situational awareness, felt uncomfortably conspicuous, and began to scan the ro...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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Everyone wears a mask

Submitted to Contest #301

If only people wore a sign on their chest saying, “I’m coming into your life to fuck it up”, I might’ve had a chance. Just a clue about who they really are, and their true intentions. But no. Everyone wears a mask. When you meet someone, you meet their representative. The person that comes into your life saying all the right things. Wearing the right gear. Smelling good. Hair always done. Laughing at all your corny jokes. Not perfect, but perfect for you. Until. And I always think about the Eddie Murphy joke from the movie Raw. When he compa...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Lamentations of a Maiden

Submitted to Contest #301

I lace up the corset on your beautiful white gown, with little pearls shimmering amongst the lace. I had always hoped that I would one day be able to wear a dress like this, walk down an aisle decorated with delicate flower petals. You look so elegant and poised. There is only one person who I would wish to see me in this light, but they are with you. You walked gracefully towards the footstool so that I could secure the hand-picked white heels onto your delicate feet. You slip your feet into the shoes and gracefully step towards the vanity...

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Plans Change

Submitted to Contest #301

Plans Change The diligent guard circled the enclosure making sure everything was secure. He could go off duty at peace. He arrived at his home and silently padded across the green lawn to the back door and let himself in. Entering the bedroom he readied himself to crawl into the comfortable bed and cozied up to the sleeping beauty already there. She instinctively encircled him with her arm and cuddled closer. All was right in his world.Dawn broke rosy and warm over the picturesque hill country of Texas. The sleeping beauty languidly stretche...

26 likes 20 comments 20
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A Southern Soul In A Minnesota Body

Submitted to Contest #301

After my plane lands in Harlingen, Texas, it will only be a one-hour drive to the island—just a few more minutes until then. A part of me can’t believe I’m truly following through with this. However, another part of me is wondering what took me so long. One can only take so much of the bullshit their daily lives throw at them. The sun plays impostor as it pretends to be the same glorious sun I once loved down south. But it’s not fooling me. Nor are the protesters mocking my beliefs as I drive by their held-up signs that dance in the air. Rig...

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Unscheduled Mess

Submitted to Contest #301

There wasn’t enough time in Mollie’s schedule for things to go wrong today. She’d already crossed off three things in her planner: make the bed, shower, and get dressed. At least, she’d tried to. She’d hit a snag when her ill dachshund, Pepper, had used the dress she’d originally planned on wearing today as the perfect spot to vomit upon. So now her outfit consisted of her second-best party dress and a pair of wedge sandals that only sort of matched but were much too tight to wear all day. But that was fine; she was still on time to meet Vir...

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Sweet

Submitted to Contest #301

Roman was going to do it.On his first night back in Rock Candy Valley after five years, he would profess his love to Honey Bee Bennett.The woman who smiled slow and sweet like syrup. The woman who rode mechanical bulls like she would the back of a crescent moon. The woman with a voice of smoke and sugar, smokier in song, sugary in laughter. The woman who could tune lakeside cattails or flute blades of grass for an audience of bayou fireflies. The woman with the best honey mustard in all of Rock Candy. The woman who only winked with her right...

7 likes 4 comments 4
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"You Don't Get A Wife And A Girlfriend Too!"

Submitted to Contest #301

“You Don’t Get A Wife AND A Girlfriend Too!” Screaming at the top of her voice stretching her lung capacity to its limits, Destiny shouted, “Let’s just be friends,” Sterling! Sterling matched her tone by screaming at the top of his lungs in response, “Yea, let’s just be friends!” Stomping out of his house with smoke billowing from both of their ears, they walked somberly to their respective cars as if walking away from a gravesite.A room full of blind people would have known that neither one of them was ready to give up on their relations...

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The Best Laid Plans

Submitted to Contest #301

Elena Martin had spent months orchestrating what she believed would be the perfect proposal. Every detail was meticulously planned, from the words she would say to the setting where she would say them. She had rehearsed her speech countless times, standing in front of her bathroom mirror, her reflection a silent audience to her nervous excitement. The ring—a delicate gold band with a small emerald that mirrored the deep green of Gabriel’s eyes—had been chosen after weeks of searching, a symbol of their unique connection. She had reserved the...

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RBE | RBE Romance | 2024-03

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