Blog Tour: How to Speak Boy by Tiana Smith (Guest Post + Giveaway!)

Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the How to Speak Boy blog tour!! I’m so excited to be on this tour, and I’m even more excited for you to read about Tiana’s favorite parts of her book! Read on to find out more about the book, author, and tour, plus enter a print copy of How to Speak Boy!!!

How to Speak Boy by Tiana Smith
Published on January 7, 2020 by Swoon Reads
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 256
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Quinn and Grayson have been fierce speech and debate rivals for years. They can't stand one another, either in competition or in real life.

But when their AP Government teacher returns their school assignments to the wrong cubbies, they begin exchanging anonymous notes without knowing who the other is.

Despite their differences, the two come together through their letters and find themselves unknowingly falling for the competition. Before the state tournament, the two of them need to figure out what they want out of life, or risk their own future happiness. After all, what’s the point of speech and debate if you can't say what's in your heart?

Do you have a favorite scene, quote, or moment from How to Speak Boy?

Ask almost any writer and they’ll probably tell you that they can’t not write. They have to do it. Writing How To Speak Boy was a lot like that. The words poured out of me and I had to get them down on paper. 

There were so many flirty scenes. And I loooove writing flirty scenes. Almost kisses (and actual kisses) are my favorite, so I had so many fun moments to explore in this book. Plus, my book is a rom-com, which meant I got to do a lot of embarrassing scenes where my characters were put in awkward situations, and those are always a blast to write. I mean, come on, embarrassing my characters is like a personal hobby of mine, and sometimes my main character Quinn made it so easy…

My favorite scene is probably their first kiss. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, so I’ll just give a couple details here that won’t give anything important away. But these lines happen a little bit before their first kiss, and I think they’re some of my favorite in the whole book:

“I lost because the judges can’t resist a pretty face. Just because you’re cute doesn’t mean you’re talented.”

Grayson held his hands up and waggled his eyebrows. “All I hear is that you think I’m cute.”

I shook my head, but already I could feel the heat creeping up my neck. “Yeah, well, I think a pangolin is cute, and they look like a walking artichoke, so clearly the bar isn’t that high.”

I love pangolins. So maybe that’s why I love this line so much, haha. 

Perhaps my favorite character to write was Grayson. He’s a little pushy at first, but he definitely grows on you. Grayson is a smooth-talking flirt, so it was fun to get inside his head and think of how he’d react to a situation. 

But even with all that said, I think my absolute most favorite thing about How To Speak Boy is the relationship between Quinn and Grayson. Put those two together and magic happens. 

I hope you’ll agree! If you read the book, I hope you’ll love the fluffy romance and the funny interactions between all the characters. I had so much fun writing it and can’t wait to share it with the world.