[Sackett]

To me it depends on how well the romance is written. A good childhood romance is great, but poorly written ones are annoying.

I tend to be biased towards childhood friends because they usually represent the "Betty" in a Betty and Veronica relationship. You know, the girl next door, safe, domestic, and status quo. I tend to be of the philosophy that if you have a good thing, don't let it slip away while you go chasing rainbows.

As for realistic, of course it's realistic. As recently as the 1980s, 50% of men married their first love. It's even been summarized in a pithy saying: "A man will love the first woman to tie a string to his heart."

However, over the last three decades there has been some significant changes. The rise in the marriage age, and the massive increase in causal sex has greatly reduced the pressures for men to marry early- when they would most likely marry their childhood friend. I wouldn't be surprised if a successful childhood romance is less common now than 30 years ago.