I Never Kissed Judy Garland by Michael A. Kechula

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: I Never Kissed Judy Garland
Author: Michael A. Kechula

Author Site

Buy Link
Publisher: BooksForABuck.com

Genre: Romance/Short Stories

Length: 137 pgs.
Reviewed by: Kim Clune

RATINGS FOR:

Cover: 4

Presentation: 4

Editing: 5

Story: 5

Writing Ability: 5

Overall Card Rating: 

                                                               

About The Book:
A stunt double never gets over his crush on Judy Garland. A man spots a sign on the side of the road--and it changes his life. A musician discovers a beautiful doll who makes him a star and more. A middle-aged man decides to help a desperate young woman ... and wonders if the good guy ever can win. A girl wishes for an air force fighter for her birthday and discovers what true love can do. These are only some of the stories Michael A. Kechula delivers in this collection of romantic stories by the master of short fiction.

The Review:

Michael A. Kechula has a fine gift for story-telling which he attributes solely to the tutelage of Dr. Sherry Rosenthal, his professor at the Community Colleges of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas. Rest assured, while Dr. Rosenthal may have had a significant impact upon Kechula, this author has an innate talent for writing that springs forth from deep within.

 I Never Kissed Judy Garland is Kechula’s first short story collection focusing on romance and relationships. The main characters are sweet and often bumbling through life, unsure of what comes next. They could be easily be friends of yours or mine – well many of them, anyway – and as we cheer them on through some pretty odd trials and tribulations wanting to offer each advice, they often find their own way, although separate from what we’d suggest. And sometimes they don’t. And sometimes our similarities end when a shape-shifting being arrives on the scene to hook the story in another shocking direction altogether.

Each story bears trace details that are similar to the next, creating a sense of familiarity and cohesiveness where none actually exists. Or does it? The result is a fun read that makes you question the ways in which each story is somehow connected, only to find entirely new and unexpected twists as each page is turned.

You’ll find yourself indulging in Kechula’s odd sense of humor as you curiously delight in struggle, sadness, mental illness, jealousy, and surreal twists of fate, while full-on enjoying hints of magic sparked by love, a simple charm in unrequited desire, and geeks who become heroes in the end. And if you want a little holiday flavor, there’s a bit of that too.

This book is well worth the read, even if you consume it like I did, just a story here and there on the go. Let me add that, while I Never Kissed Judy Garland is served up in tasty bits allowing you to easily put it down between reads, that doesn’t mean you’ll want to.

Pagan Elements: N/A

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