1. Because in real life, there are chapters after the epilogue. And they’re not about when your sister finds her Comanche warrior – they’re about when you realize that people make a mess in the kitchen and don’t clean it up, or refuse to put away their shoes, or leave hair all over the bathroom, or snore. Or can’t have kids. Or find God when you find beer. Or find beer when you find God. And it’s hard to remember the rapturous sex from chapter 10 when you’re crying yourself to sleep – or wishing you were.
2. Because for some of the times your eyes meet his across a room and there’s electricity, he is ten years younger than you, and you’re married, and he’s the electrician. And you either can’t or won’t take the plunge. Or you feel it and he doesn’t. Or, God forbid, he feels it and you don’t, and you end up feeling both disgusted and oddly conceited while trying to explain to your friends that he asked you out, he’s not ugly, you’re not dating anyone, he’s not scary, but you’re not interested. Because you’re not going to settle for someone who doesn’t make you feel that way.
3. Because there must, theoretically, be some men, somewhere, who have average- to small-sized packages.
4. Because sometimes it actually works out without all the conflict and horror - there's nothing to resolve, just peace with no need of eventual reconciliation. Just happiness without all the crap to come before it. Sometimes.
5. Because real women crack ribs when they wear corsets, and that's not conducive to acrobatic and marathon sexual engagement.
6. Because sometimes Prince Charming doesn't come along until the second time around, after Mr. Mistake reveals his true colors. That often doesn't make for pleasant reading and is sometimes messy, but is often worth it.
7. Because sometimes you love someone enough to realize that what's best for them is that you're not together. And so you do your best, every day, to honor their wishes and be separate from them. Even though it leaves an ache inside you that never really goes away. Maybe it gets smaller, and sometimes it's very tiny - sometimes like a little gem that you can almost hold close and be proud of - but it's always there.
8. Because in romance novels, very, very rarely are women and men just friends. And at this particular juncture, I have a few male friends - a couple in particular - upon whose shoulders rests a great deal, and for whom I'm very grateful. That has nothing to do with their maleness, but everything to do with their friendship and trust.
