Recently Laini Taylor posted several completed images from husband Jim Di Bartolo's artwork for her upcoming collection Lips Touch Three Times. I am most partial to the one above, from "Spicy Little Curses Such As These," which is set in India during 1918. All of the pictures of very cool however and for those, like me, who have only been able to see the black and white drawings in the ARC I encourage you take a look.

Lips Touch is an interesting collection and I must admit I enjoyed it a lot. (Full review in my October column.) What I especially like is that while Laini continues the trend of making horror romantic, she also is clear to make it horrific. This is particularly true in the opening story, a contemporary retelling of Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market". In "Goblin Fruit" you have a teenage girl who knows she is making probably a very bad choice - possibly a devastating choice - but she can not resist that gorgeous boy who seems to want her so very much. As much as I longed to save Kizzy I doubted my own ability to walk away from the fabulous Jack in the same circumstance. But at least Kizzy knows how bad this can be - she's not deluded. It's all about self worth and temptation and how all the knowledge in the world sometimes won't keep you from taking that decidedly wrong path.

How delicious that story is!

As I read the collection I kept thinking "Wow - this is so perfect for teenage girls!" (Do you hear me Readergirlz? This is 100% up your alley!!!!) This does not mean that boys won't enjoy it (I think they will actually) or that adults can not (of course we can!!) But there is a teen girl sensibility ever present here, both in the protagonists themselves and indeed in how the stories are written. It's all about how you feel at that certain age - the frustration, the anger, the uncertainty, the determination to transform yourself, to show everybody something they won't forget. That hope that you will become someone to impress the hell out of yourself and others.

It's such an exciting and lonely time and Laini captures it brilliantly with her stories. Be sure to check out Lips Touch next month - you won't be disappointed.

[ARC from the publisher and at the kidlit conference last year I had dinner with Laini and Jim. ]