Insta Love in Books: Is it realistic?

EYES ACROSS A CROWDED ROOM

I'm a romance writer so technically speaking, love is my business. I concoct stories of attraction, love and of course a liberal sprinkling of angst, so I should know all about love - right? I thought I did until, at the risk of sounding like the biggest dork in the world, I met my partner.

The other night in bed, as he cuddled up and turned me into the little spoon, I was struck by how natural our relationship is (not that I've had unnatural ones!) In fact, we both kept asking each other if we were moving too fast, if it was weird to feel this way in such a short period of time, and we came up with the same answer again and again.

The only weird thing about it, was that it didn't feel weird - it felt right.

There was no walking on eggshells, thinking before I said anything, wondering if I'd done the wrong thing. No self-doubt, self-pity or self-recriminations. No waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was seemless, comfortable, natural. It was everything I didn't even know I was looking for until it was right there in front of me. It was EASY.

We're eight months in now and, if anything, it's got even easier the longer we've been together. And it's not even grand gestures like flowers or declarations of undying love that make me feel cherished. It's the little things. The way I catch him just looking at me with this little half-smile on his face. The way my glass is never empty because he's re-filled it before the last drop has gone. The hot water bottle he sneaks beneath the covers on my side of the bed so I don't have to get into freezing cold sheets. And the black wine gums he picks out of the packet and gives to me because he knows they're my favourite.

So... insta-love: is it realistic? In life it is, so why not in books?

What do you think?