The Last Demo
Isobel Wickham was twenty-four years old and had spent the last eighteen months of her life answering phones at a dental clinic, which is…
Romance stories
Romance stories. Romance stories, from quick reads to long series. Reads run 24 to 26 minutes. Writers to know: Logic of Willow, The Quartz Quill and Salt Night. Readers usually start with “The Honey Pot at Dawn” and “Boots and a Tent”. Ranked by how many readers finish them. Some are free to read in full; the rest open with a free preview.
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Romance stories, ranked by readers
41 42 The Carpenter's Wife
Trev Price was twenty-four years old, and he had built things with his hands since he was old enough to hold a hammer without dropping it…
43 The Winter Accountant
I drove up to Dunewalk on a gray Tuesday in early November.
44 The Caterer's Revenge
Five years ago I got fired from the best job I ever had.
45 The Birthday List
I was forty minutes into my weekly Friday night beer when Grady Jenkin came shuffling over with that look on his face.
46 The Lifeguard Finally Drowns
The beach house was one of those rentals that looked like it had been arguing with the ocean for forty years and losing slowly, gray…
47 The Tami Tango Tournament
Let me start by saying my wife Tami is twenty-eight, I'm thirty-one, and neither one of us can dance.
48 The Tokyo Night Market
The alley smelled like soy sauce and charcoal smoke, and I stood there letting it wash over me while Amara took a picture of a temple sign…
49 The Late Show
People who come to my auctions think they know me, and honestly I work hard at making sure they do.
50 The Torero's Last Spin
Friday is my favorite shift of the month, and I'll tell you why.
51 The Grinder at Dusk
Harold Vance stood in the doorway of the sassafras oil shed with a coffee grinder in one hand and a cup of cold coffee in the other…
52 Salsify and Lead
You would not believe my day job.
53 The Last Coat of Varnish
The taxi dropped me on the corner by the old textile mill at eight in the morning, a full two hours before the rehearsal was supposed to…
54 Rainwater Pact
I stood on the viewing platform and stared at the clay towers.
55 Unsent Letters
My life, at twenty-three, was a machine I'd built myself, and every gear in it turned exactly the way I wanted.
56 The Ferry Experiment
*This one came from a daydream about competitive flirting on a boat, there's something about the salt air and the promise of a finite…
57 Stage Lights and Second Takes
The bus to Copper Hill runs twice a day from the county seat, and I was on the afternoon one, which meant I got to sit behind a farmer who…
58 The Unlikely Spanner
My husband is thirty-eight years old and on the last Saturday of June he was doing forty miles an hour around a dirt oval at the Old Mill…
59 The Spice Rack Waltz
The heat in Málaga this August was stupid.
60 One Last Shot at Something Real
*This one came from a daydream about how a wedding can be a second chance at a first impression.
Romance, by tag
Breathless and eager romanceMatter-of-fact romanceWarm and nostalgic romanceTender and slow romanceSpouses romanceLeather romanceFeet romanceRaw and blunt romanceCoworkers romanceA couple who have been dating a while, not married romanceBody worship romanceExes romanceWriters known for it
Logic of Willow, The Quartz Quill, Salt Night, Plum Chronicle