Here’s the thing: sometimes, you just want to read a good love story. Or at least, something with a little sex, a little passion, a few dramatic swoons. But a romance novel, per se? Nothing so gaudy or slapdash for you! You need real literature. Well, person who I’ve just made up though I know you’re out there, here’s the answer: a selection of romantic books that will rev your motor emotional or otherwise but don’t fall into that taboo category of cheap paper and cheaper storylines. After the jump, 50 romantic novels for people who hate romance novels.

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This is a pretty good list. It could be better…Pride & Prejudice is missing. Also suggest Simon the Coldheart or An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer; North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell; Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy; Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews; The Winer Sea by Susanna Kearsley. I guess the author does not consider YA literature, as I don’t think the genre is represented. I don’t read much YA myself, so I don’t have any suggestions.