Of course you're a great kisser, but could you be an even better one?

Seal it with a Kiss: Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Delivering the Knockout Kiss by Violet Blue (Cleis Press, 2010, $12.95) is the ultimate guide to kissing, whether you’re a shy beginner or experienced make-out vixen. Blue’s tone in this book is conversational, like good girl talk. She orients her lessons toward women to want to make out with guys, but there isn’t a person alive who couldn’t benefit from some of the tips in this book.

The quiz in the early chapters will sort you into one of four kissing personalities: Sweet Lips, Power Puss (which happens to be the category this reviewer falls into), Hot Lips, or Pure Delicious Poison. Whatever your kissing style, Blue walks you through how to make that first kiss happen (and how to deal with any and all awkward situations that might arise therefrom), how to make it memorable, and even how to get your lips ready for the perfect kiss ahead of time.

The last chapters in this book are for more advanced students of the kiss. They include tricks on how to use all your senses to enhance that kiss experience, from the perfect make-out music and movies to treats you can eat to make your pucker irresistible. For the ultimate kissing fun, try some of the kissing games she suggests…either at parties (as is the great teen tradition) or one-on-one with your sweetie.

The kissing games and some of these techniques occasionally tend toward the risque, but overall this book is fairly appropriate for ages thirteen and up. It’s about kissing, not sex. A cool mom or aunt would get this book for her teenage daughter or niece. In fact, teens (especially boys) would do well to at least flip through it before making their way out into the world of making out.

Violet Blue should know what she’s talking about: she’s a nationally recognized sexpert. A popular columnist of the San Francisco chronicle and frequent lecturer at UC Berkeley and UCSF, she also writes the blog tinynibbles.com. She writes about the intersection of human sexuality and technology…though rest assured the tips in Seal it with a Kiss are all low-tech and gadget-free.