How do we love Ryan Gosling? Let us count the ways, starting with how he's able to make his breakup from Rachel McAdams sound as swoon-worthy as their on-screen coupling in "The Notebook."

"I mean, God bless 'The Notebook,'" the actor, 26, tells GQ. "It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life. But people do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that."

If you need a moment to fan yourself, we'll wait ... OK, moving on.

The impossibly cute Canadian couple's undercover romance reportedly went belly up in April over what one insider labeled as "conflicting work schedules." The split came after nearly two years of togetherness that began months after the movie wrapped (they didn't get along while making the three-hanky tearjerker).

"The only thing I remember is we both went down swingin' and we called it a draw," offers the gallant Gosling, who until now has remained tight-lipped about the split.

But it seems he can't escape reminders of his onetime amour, thanks to brokenhearted, hobby-needing fans of Noah and Allie, who seem to take the flick's schmaltzy, "It wasn't over for me! It still isn't over!" sentiment a mite too seriously.

"Women are mad at me," admits the low-key star, who is out stumping for his critically acclaimed if oddball life-size doll drama "Lars and the Real Girl." "A girl came up to me on the street and she almost smacked me. Like, 'How could you? How could you let a girl like that go?'"

Sighs Ryan, "I feel like I want to give people hugs, they seem so sad. Rachel and I should be the ones getting hugs! Instead, we're consoling everybody else."

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