That was before the summer of the suitcase.

Every year, my family used to make the 500-plus-mile trip to Western New York, where my parents are from, to spend a couple of weeks with our relatives. We almost always stayed with my aunt Joana.

Aunt Joie, as we all call her, like the rest of my family, was well aware of my bookworm tendencies. It wasn't unusual for me to stay up late, zipping through several books in one trip. Early on in our visit, Joie directed me to the guest room. She opened the closet door and pulled out an old suitcase that turned out to be a veritable Pandora's box of romantic fiction.

Up until that time, my experience with trash novels was virtually nonexistent, but it only took a few chapters of Constance O' Banyon's "Velvet Chains" before I was hooked.

Revolution, war, pirates, kidnappings, money, politics, questionable allegiances, double lives, secret identities -- even without the love and romance components, there was a lot going on.

While I continued to read contemporary literary fiction, the classics and the required reading for my college coursework, I would occasionally pick up a new romance to take a break from the seriousness of it all. Before long, I had several girlfriends who were happy to trade paperbacks with me.

Before ransacking my bookshelves for a yard sale, I'd built up a considerable collection as extensive as the one in Aunt Joie's suitcase. As much as I enjoy reading high-minded titles by authors with impressive achievements and accolades, a trash novel can be so much fun.

Keeping in mind that a person can be considered intelligent and still enjoy a good romance, I wasn't at all surprised when I met romantic fiction writer Blythe Gifford at a presentation at the Putnam County Public Library.

I had been warned that Blythe would topple any preconceived notions or stereotypes I might associate with romance novelists, and my fellow audience members and I found her to be smart, funny and well-versed in the history of her novels' settings and time periods. Along with being an alumna of DePauw University, Blythe was once a local resident and attended Greencastle High School.

During her presentation, Blythe spoke about some of the timeless themes that pop up in romance novels. In her latest release, "In the Master's Bed," she writes about a young woman's struggle to fulfill family and social obligations while figuring out her own place in the world, her quest to secure an excellent education from a good school in the face of a variety of challenges, the relationships between cities and universities and how life events can alter individuals' plans. It was one of these life digressions, a company lay off, that enabled Blythe to transition from dabbling in romantic fiction to authoring four published novels.

Regardless of your stance on the literary merits of romantic fiction, you can be confident that whether your personal challenge is finding love, negotiating town/gown relations or something in between, you just might find someone to relate to in the pages of a "trash novel."

Interested in learning more about Blythe Gifford or her books? Go to www.blythegifford.com or look for available titles at www.putnam.lib.in.us.