When it comes to novels with romantic themes, people tend to push them aside as third class literature or see them as chick-lit, marked with heartbreaking scenes (which can be too corny), or with plot devices meant to induce sobbing. The fact is, there are many great, high-quality books that deal with the topic of love and don’t fall within these cliches. Authors can also take a more serious approach, taking into consideration historical and social circumstances, psychological portraits, and forms of love not widely discussed or even controversial (e.g. Nabokov’s Lolita). Here are five of the most interesting ones, which you can read for pleasure without experiencing guilt over the enjoyment they give. This time, we have included contemporary authors, too – so you can see how modern love problems are reinterpreted through literature.