If someone here asks for recommendations on a theme or style, the same greats are trotted out. And with good reason, they are greats.
Of course, after people have been around a while, they've probably read them all.
But the site is full of less read and less voted stories too! Can you please recommend some obscure stories you rate highly even though, in the voting and attention muddle that is sites like this, they don't seem to have got the accolades they deserve?
A.A.Nemo:
https://storiesonline.net/s/13087/jacobs-granddaughters
https://storiesonline.net/s/73386/concordia
Two of my favorites, with plenty of plot and action to keep you interested.
I've mentioned him before, and unfortunately his work's been archived so it's not a useful rec to all, but Moghal.
There's a number of great writers who've vanished from SOL (and some from the planet)... dotB doesn't get mentioned much any more. Lazlong.
Coaster2 can be hit or miss...
There's a lot of decent stories (and a lot of less than decent stories) in the Swarm Cycle universe, give them a try...
Celtic Cowboy, The Scot... really, the problem is remembering all the stories that one liked from a dozen years or more ago...
Try Tony Steven's stories. He did a lot of baseball-themed stories, but also quite a few others. Most of them are really fun reads.
https://storiesonline.net/library/author.php?name=Tony_Stevens&sf=alpha&so=asc
I popped into this thread for ideas ...currently working my way through A.A. Nemo, just finished Coaster2. Good to know that I chose well! I'll start on a few of the other Names mentioned next! Thanks!
I recommend stories by Verywellaged. Mostly set in the Philippines. Usually older American male with multiple Filipinas. I wonder why male Filipinos aren't Filipenis?
Actually, a good place to look for forgotten great stories would be the past Golden Clit winners. There's a number of writers like Andrew Wiggin, or SeaLife, or Colt45 that were prolific for a year or two, then vanished... and those writers tend to get forgotten while those who lasted four or more years tend to be remembered.
Have you checked out Authors Favorites? The list of 100 stories is on the home page at the bottom of the catagory, Older Stories, which is a great source itself.
Once through these, look at the list of stories that have been reviewed. The reviews are a great place to find stories that fit the mood.
I am going to throw out one of my own stories, and one I wrote in 1996, but first posted here in 2002.
https://storiesonline.net/s/36735/okinawa
Now granted, it is a bit rough now (almost 25 years later) and I have this on a short list as the story I will be completely revising next year once I finish 2 others I have been working on. And while it may not quite seem like it, it really is a romance, with a happy ending for the 2 main characters.
In fact, most of my stories tend to be of the "romantic" type, even if they do not always appear to be so. Where the main character is normally looking for their true love, and ultimately finds them.