Finally in love?

I'm not the type of girl who sets out to find love. I like it, but it never bothered me that I didn't have a boyfriend. I was aged 12 when I first had a boyfriend. I remember feeling like I loved him, but I was 12, what did I know about love? During secondary school, a new girl joined. We became friends, and one day she told me there was a boy from her old school who thought I was pretty. I went to meet him the next day, and we got together that night. The relationship lasted 7 months. But they were the worst 7 months of my life. He would abuse me and knock my confidence by leading me to believe I was useless and worthless. I remember one day going to meet him, and he told me very bluntly, he wanted sex. But I was 14, I wasn't ready for sex, so, biting my lip and forcing back the tears, I said no. He then pushed me to the floor, sat on me and pinned my hands above my head. Lowering his face to mine, he spoke through gritted teeth, telling me if I embarrassed him or didn't do as he said, bad, bad things would happen. But I wasn't having any of it. I told myself I was strong, and with tears running down my face, I repeated the word 'no' over and over, screaming in fear. He got really mad at me then, he started kicking me and spitting on me, yanking my hair and holding my face between his hands as he leaned over me and told me I was an ugly, worthless piece of sh*t, and that no one would ever love me. I knew I had to leave him but I couldn't, I was too scared. And I still liked the side of him that I first knew, the kind side that made me feel somewhat content. After 7 months, he finally got the message when I avoided talking to him or catching the bus to see him and we broke up over a very verbally abusive text conversation. After that day, I vowed I'd never trust men again. And I didn't. Until I became closes to one of my distant mates I'd met through my family and church. I'd known him a few years but never really taken the chance to get to know him. We got chatting and I decided I really liked him, he was funny and knew how to make me happy again. I was doing the one thing I promised myself I'd never do. I was trusting another guy. As we grew closer, we started meeting up more. One night, we laid on a patch of grass watching the night sky change and exchanged past stories. I didn't tell him much-just the stuff I was comfortable with him knowing, and I began to trust him. Now we're together. We've only been together less than a year, but I really feel I love him. He's one of the very few people who know about my abusive boyfriend. In fact, he's the only person who knows everything about me. He's one of the few people who's mere presence can make me happy. I love how we can act ourselves around each other, and how he knows everything about me and still love me.
He gained my trust, he built my confidence, but is it normal to feel this overwhelming sense of love to someone I've only been with for less than a year?