Review: Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

Title:  Lips Touch: Three Times
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Standalone
Genre: Short Stories/Fantasy/Magic
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date: November 1st, 2009
Edition: Kindle Edition, 266 pages
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis:

Three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers' souls:
Goblin Fruit
In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today's savvy girls?
Spicy Little Curses
A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.
Hatchling
Six days before Esme's fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?

    These were all very unique stories, but they all had that wonderful and distinct Laini Taylor flair to them that I love. The dark magic that twists fairy-tales. Also, the illustrations are amazing. I need to purchase a physical copy so I can stare at them. I'd actually like a print of a couple to hang in my house. The thing that often happens for me with Short Stories, is that they always feel incomplete. This didn't happen with this book, other than Goblin Fruit. It's the shortest one, and I just wanted a little more with those characters. I know why it ended where it did, but it happened over a very short amount of time. While I wanted more, I think if there was it would have felt dragged out. I wanted to know what became of Kizzy.

    Each of these short stories has a dark magic to them that I've come to expect from Taylor. Spicy Little Curses, is one that I felt was going to be my favorite very early on. The plot is the stand out of this story. Woman makes deals with a demon to save the souls of babies and children. Yes, please. And a girl cursed with a beautiful voice.

    Hatchling was the most unexpected. I was never sure where it was headed. This had to be the more romantic story of the three, but also one of the darker ones. This one is hard to review without giving anything away. I'll put it this way, when I started this one I was certain that I wasn't going to like it that much. But it's a strong contender of being my favorite. I'm still a little undecided if I like it more than Spicy Little Curses.

     I wish I had read this book sooner, but it was always so hard to find. I was really happy when I saw that my library had an E-copy of this, but now I want to have a copy for my shelves.