A fairly common trope in the romance genre is that of “love at first sight”.  Within the context of fiction, this concept is readily acceptable as long as it’s well written and executed.  One of the joys of reading romance, according to informal polls I’ve read and taken, is that is allows the reader the opportunity to escape their lives, if only for a bit of time, and allows them access to fantasies that may be missing from their lives either at the moment or altogether.

Some detractors of the romance genre say this escape tendency causes people to have unrealistic expectations of how “real” relationships work; therefore setting them up for romance failure in their personal lives.

So, this got me to wondering (uh oh is right 🙂  ) exactly how many of us (romance readers & writers and people in general) believe “love at first sight” truly exists?

I don’t know if I believe in this concept, per se. But I do believe that while it may take someone a while to admit to themselves that they are, indeed, in love with someone; I think it takes very little time to actually “fall” in love with someone.  Think about it, what does falling in love really mean?

In my opinion, falling in love is an active thing that begins the moment you meet that special someone, whether you’re aware of it or not.  I believe the “falling” is a constant process that continues throughout the span of a healthy relationship.  It could start out small, like a snowball rolling downhill that picks up substance and speed as it travels along…  Or, it could start out like “WOW!” all big and in your face and continue to grow from there.  It varies from person to person.

As someone that both enjoys romance and writes it,  I’m interested in your opinions of “love at first sight”.  Is this a theory you subscribe to?  Or do you feel it’s just a bunch of commercialized hooey?