I dunno, I actively hated it (and still do) from the moment I first saw it coming, and that was in book three. It felt so obvious she was setting up a "Slap slap kiss kiss" relationship, and the whole thing felt so forced, trite, and unhealthy that I just wanted to smack my head against a wall every time she gave them another "moment."

I didn't even join fandom until the fifth book, so, I dunno, it never seemed like a secret to me (which was another reason I hated it--that it was so blatant that was the pairing she was setting up that it was just boring and I wanted them to get it the heck over with).