Unconventional romance books?

Hm. I honestly do not read a lot of romance books, but I will say that I have a soft spot for Nickolas Sparks. He's the writer of many popular romance novels that became movie hits such as The Notebook and Dear John. You really have to ignore the film adaptations to enjoy his books because the books are, of course, much more detailed and less sappy than they're first thought out to be. In fact, his novels are quite romantic, but deal with real life issues (often tough ones involving family) and are made to relate to people on a very realistic and human level. Guys don't always get the girl and vice versa; people often die, marriages don't turn out so perfectly, etc. Be sure to have a box of tissues with you :)