Get the kissing you crave: no self-respecting Cosmo chick should have to settle for lackluster lip-locking. If you're not getting smoldering smooches, read on.(LOVE AND LUST)

The only thing worse than a kiss that fails to make your toes curl? One that turns you off completely. "Compatible kissing is important because it's how partners communicate intimacy," says William Cane, author of The Art of Kissing. "It's also romantic, which keeps a relationship alive." Don't worry: Your kiss connection isn't doomed. "Men are motivated to be better kissers," says J. Galen Buckwalter, PhD, vice president of research and development at eharmony.com. "You just have to know how to teach them." These tips will help your guy become the kind of kisser that makes you melt.

Stop a Sorry Lip-Lock

Your man can't rehab his smooching style if he doesn't know he's missing the mark. However, the last thing you want to do is diss his kiss--that'll crush his ego. "Instead of telling him what he's doing wrong, show him how to do it right," says Shelley Hess, author of Pucker Power: Great Kissers Make Great Lovers. But first, you need to put on the brakes. "Stop the kiss, but not the affection," suggests Hess. Simply pull your face away midkiss and nibble his neck, lick his ear, or suck on his lip. That will subtly send the message that his mouth maneuvers aren't cutting it.

Let Him Read Your Lips

Once you return to make-out mode, demo the way you like to smooch. If he rams his tongue down your throat, pull back slightly, then gently kiss his lips with a barely open mouth. Even though he won't have access to your tonsils, this closed-mouth peck can be just as exhilarating. "Lips have more nerve endings than tongues do," says Hess. For the opposite ...