Peony Season
I have been a court docket clerk in Třešť for thirty-eight years, and if you had told me at twenty-five that I would spend four decades…
Best Small town Stories of 2026
The most-read small town stories right now, in a short top ten and then picks by how you want to read. Small town stories, from quick reads to long series. Most small town stories here sit in romance and bdsm. Reads run 16 to 24 minutes. Writers to know: Gold Reverie, Room of Timber and The Quartz Quill. Some are free to read in full; the rest open with a free preview.
The top small town stories
01 02 The Locksmith's Van
I'm twenty-eight years old and I coach women's basketball at a small college outside of Charleston, which means I spend about four months…
03 The Hop Ties
The fairgrounds came into view right around the bend where Highway 12 dips past the water tower, and I felt my shoulders drop about two…
04 Anniversary Dress
I'm twenty-eight years old, and I own a farm, and last Thursday I bought a dress.
05 Barn Dance Slow
Evelyn Mackey clocked out of the feed store at six fifteen on a Tuesday, and her whole body felt like a sack of chicken feed by the time…
06 Chastity Bet
Nadine here.
07 The Bottle and the Market
Isabelle Fulton had been a nurse for twenty-nine years, and she could count on one hand the number of times she had voluntarily gotten up…
08 The Good Cook
I was breaking down a case of beets when my date from Tuesday texted me again.
09 The Accordion Wake
I'm Douglas Sanders, thirty-seven years old, and I plan events for a living.
10 The Hollow House
*This one grew from a weird doodle I did of a house with too much yard and a neighbor who never smiled.
Longer small town reads
The Lifeguard Bet
My name is Collin Parson, I'm twenty-eight, and I've been lifeguarding at the Merritt Falls municipal pool for six summers now.
Pie and Prejudice
I moved to Lark's Hollow in the spring of the year I turned forty-two, which is the kind of sentence I would have hated saying out loud…
The Houseboat Secret
I lost my wallet at the church fair on a Saturday in June, which is the kind of thing that happens when you eat a funnel cake standing up…
Last Day at the Farmers Market
Five in the morning and the farmers market was already packed.
The Thank You Letter
So here's how it started, and I swear on my dead husband's toolbox that this is the true version.