Your must read favourite romantic novels of all time!

Ask bookworms why they read and sometimes re-read romantic novels, and they'll tell you that it's the best way to escape to a world with two passionate characters. Reading is better than watching daily soaps because it expands your vocabulary and sparks your imagination. However, the real reason is reading romantic novels is a way to escape the real world with your favourite fictional characters. When you have too much work to do, it's a way to deal with stress and give your mind a break from reality.

Here is the list of the best romantic novels:

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

A list of romantic books or fiction on love must always begin with the most popular novel ever written about love and marriage - Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. To realise they are perfect for each other, characters Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy must overcome a series of misunderstandings, matchmaking mothers and aunts, handsome rakes, and their own biases and pig-headedness. On Valentine's Day, this is an excellent book to re-read or read for the first time.

Thich Nhat Hanh: How to Love

Is it possible to learn to love? Is there a right or wrong way to love someone? How do you foster trust? Can you love another without first loving yourself? In this pocket-sized guide, Buddhist teacher and human rights activist Thich Nhat Hanh explores different types of love and the habits that strengthen it, as part of a how-to series on how to practise mindfulness in everyday life. If your date is cynical or emotionally constipated, this is the perfect gift. Simply request that he or she approach it with an open mind.

Moira Weigel's Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating

Courtship may be as old as time, but the institution of dating is relatively new. A romantic disappointment prompts scholar Moira Weigel to consider what she wants from a relationship and how it can differ from what popular culture has conditioned her to expect, and thus her investigation into the history and evolution of dating from the 1900s to the present-day Tinder version begins.

Junot Diaz: This Is How You Lose Her

Junot Diaz's protagonist Yunior takes a long, hard look at the philandering and complexities of being in love in these nine interconnected stories. Diaz described the book as "a tale about a young man's struggle to overcome his cultural training and inner habits in order to create lasting relationships".