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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.

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

letters from sister balloue

Weekly Contest #363

Noble. Her family thought she was so noble. It had been three weeks since she’d left for her mission. She was to preach the gospel and to serve the people of Paris, France. Paris, France! Everyone had gasped and grinned when she’d told them where she had been called to serve. Beware of pickpocketers. Write often. My little missionary. I’m so proud of you. But there was nothing to be proud of. As much as she wished she was the girl who was going to Paris, France as a missionary; to teach the gospel, to bring people unto Christ, she was nowhe...

2 likes 1 comment 1
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The Man on the Dock

Weekly Contest #363

Maddie Brooks looked across Lake Marlowe and let out a slow breath.The reunion carried on behind her beneath the picnic pavilion. Laughter drifted across the water. Someone argued over the grill. Children shrieked near the shoreline. The sounds blended until they became background noise, leaving the gentle slap of water against the dock to fill the silence she'd been chasing all afternoon.She slipped off her sandals and let her feet hang over the edge. The water rocked the dock in a slow rhythm. Out on the lake, a fishing boat cut across the...

11 likes 8 comments 8
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The Conductor

Weekly Contest #363

Finding a wave in the ocean that suits his purpose, he raises his baton and has it dip a little lower. Next to him a towel is held down by books he won’t be reading. One is a biography of FDR. He loves politicians, but he has trouble believing things about them. Had he been born a woman, he would have been a terrific Mayor’s Wife. Or even a First Lady. Instead, he’s a Conductor. He raises the baton and the wave gains height. A surfer moves into its harmony. Back in town, he’s treated to dinner by one of the nine distinguished women that trav...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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An Unexpected Catch

Weekly Contest #363

As I stood looking out over the lake, the sun was just setting, and the sky was blanketed in purple with a fiery orange glow in the west. The fading sunlight shimmered across the rippling water. Gentle waves lapped against the rocks and sandy shoreline, stirred by a welcome breeze after a scorching afternoon.As I walked the bank, pondering where to first cast my lure, something bright caught my eye. There stood a woman in her early to mid-thirties wearing a pink baseball cap, a white tank top, and green shorts. Wavy blonde hair spilled out t...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Beneath the Surface

Weekly Contest #363

The ocean is uneasy tonight, but the tourists don’t seem to notice. They run into the water getting deeper and deeper as the waves hit them, throwing salty water onto their faces. It’s not quite sunset yet, but the sun is low across the horizon. It casts a warm glow onto the water, making the ocean a yellow plain when looked at from a distance. It looks inviting, but deceivingly so. When you get closer, it’s obvious that you can’t look through the water. It hides things, namely the danger that can pull anyone under in seconds, especially in ...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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WHERE THE RIVER KEEPS OUR PROMISES

Weekly Contest #363

WHERE THE RIVER KEEPS OUR PROMISES The first cherries of July ripened faster than anyone expected. Emma Whitaker stood atop the old wooden ladder with a wicker basket balanced against her hip, carefully twisting each ruby red cherry from its stem. Morning sunlight filtered through thousands of green leaves, painting shifting patterns across the orchard her family had tended for four generations. Bees drifted lazily between wildflowers growing beneath the trees, and somewhere beyond the rows, a meadowlark sang as if summer itself had found a ...

4 likes 0 comments 0
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A Melancholy Forecast-Stormy Weather on the Horizom

Weekly Contest #363

Prompt: Begin or end your story with someone looking out at a body of water (river, ocean sea) A Melancholy Forecast: Stormy Weather on the Horizon A salty mist bathed our faces as we sat upon the edge of the cliff. The sun gleamed its light upon our faces. A gentle breeze gingerly pushed her auburn hair upon her rosy cheeks. We sat in silence for a while gazing out at the endless sea. Its waves serenely undulated across the surface until one could hear the slap of the waters upon the shoreline. A seagull annoyingly flew in front of us a...

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The Journal's End

Weekly Contest #363

This place was different now. And yet the same. It had been a long time, but I still recognized it. The unresting ocean below was still waging its relentless war on the coast. I marveled at the resilience of the timeless cliffs. For unknown ages they had withstood the onslaught. To me, seeing that cliffside again was like the exit sign to home after a long road trip - an invitation to a place to feel at peace. I saw hopeful new saplings clinging with all their might to that rugged landscape, the ever present wind from the west forcing them ...

2 likes 0 comments 0
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A Lightning Bug for Evangeline

Weekly Contest #363

My beautiful Evangeline came marching through the cypress trees with a glass jar. It was May. Hundreds of irises bloomed along the swamp. They were violet as the sky and growing strong in the unrelenting heat. Most of us were resting on their petals. I watched the others laze throughout the arching chordgrass, their lanterns glowing with less mirth than when the early risers began the holiday in April. Her arrival pushed the tired flyers on a current toward the swamp like shy dancers put on the spot. But we were revived by her presence and s...

13 likes 4 comments 4
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The Death of Percy Meyer

Weekly Contest #363

Dear Elizabeth,It is with great sympathy that I announce the death of the once honorable Percy Meyer. His funeral should be held July the 2nd, at the place you know. Time, largely irrelevant. Your attendance is most recommended. Despite the differences between you, he loved you very much. Signed,Yours. “I should’ve hoped you were dead,” Ellie huffs. Her accent was once the consequence of a little African American girl, coming to England when she was ten. Now that she’s thirty, it almost sounds as though she belongs here. “Only as I live and ...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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A Story About Poop

Weekly Contest #363

Authors Note: This story, as you may have guessed from the title, deals with poop. If that makes you squeamish, get over it, we all poop. Reader discretion advised, especially if you're currently eating, dating someone new, or emotionally attached to beige carpet. -------- “It was probably the Falafels, that guy didn’t look like he’d washed his hands since the Reagan era.” My entreaties didn’t help the sobbing figure on the other side of the door. “Come on, it’s not that big of a deal!” The sobs continued. I thought that the internet would ...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Any Port

Weekly Contest #363

They’d had a brief but perfect marriage. Seven days from tip to tail. Seven days from top to bottom. She’d worn a long cream-colored skirt and a peasant blouse to their union at City Hall. He’d had on his jeans and a suit jacket snagged from his older brother’s closet. They pretended to be grownups. The rings were from Salvation Army. His band was still on his finger. It had been decades since they’d parted, but he’d kept track of her whereabouts and she remembered his birthday, and his best mutual friend told him she’d recently been widowed...

7 likes 3 comments 3
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Somewhere only they know

Weekly Contest #363

The storm warnings had been on the radio since sunrise. Neighbors hurried to secure their roofs, children rushed to gather laundry from the clotheslines, and shopkeepers stacked sandbags in front of their stores. The cheerful blue sky slowly disappeared beneath thick gray clouds, each one darker than the last, promising a night of relentless rain. The air smelled of wet earth long before the first drop fell, and the wind carried an uneasy silence that made everyone prepare for what was coming. Jake smiled as he watched Samantha struggle to c...

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The Storm Never Truly Passed

Weekly Contest #363

Content Warning: Grief, loss. As the storm gathered strength, long-buried memories began to replay in her mind. The morning was cold and gloomy. A true autumn day. The overcast sky foretold a rainy day. Ever since October had begun, no two days had been alike. The sun had become miserly, stubbornly refusing to show itself in the sky today as well. Ilinca was an elderly woman, devout and God-fearing. This month, she was about to turn seventy. Her short gray hair framed her face and her blue eyes. She had once been a beautiful woman—not that ...

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The Perfect Stew

Weekly Contest #363

As we bask in the grey, stormy wetness that is typical in a Pacific Northwest Fall, my wife and I are comfortably relaxing in our recliners. Laughing at something funny on the television as the smell of the perfect stew fills the house. We started making homemade stew when we were dating, many, many years ago. Perfection wasn’t on our minds. We just felt like stew. It just sounded good. We read a recipe, made a list, went shopping, came home, and started. All of this was in haste. We rushed through the grocery store without considering the i...

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RBE | RBE Romance | 2024-03

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