Interview and Giveaway: Second Wind by Aimee Nicole Walker

Lisa: We’re so pleased to welcome author Aimee Nicole Walker to TNA today on the tour for her latest release, Second Wind. She sat down and answered a few questions for this stop, so we’ll start with an easy one.

Aimee, tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.

Aimee: My parents named me after the song Amie by Pure Prairie League. My dad used to play the guitar and sing it to me.

Lisa: What’s your favorite scene in Second Wind, and what makes it a fave?

Aimee: There are so many scenes in this book that moved me to tears, but the most special has to be when Rush and Lincoln reunite on that pier after two decades of missing each other. It played out in my head like a perfect movie scene that I want to see over and over. That realization that you’re looking at the other half that makes you whole—someone you thought you’d never see again. Here they are looking at you and it’s as if no time passed at all. You realize you’ve found your second wind and your second chance at a love you thought was lost forever.

Lisa: What are your least and most favorite things about being an author?

Aimee: My favorite thing is engaging with readers. I love hearing how my characters move them or take them away from troubling times. I love to chat about the books we read and loved. My readers really helped me stay motivated and positive while underdoing treatment for breast cancer. I cannot begin to express how much they mean to me. The worst part of being an author are my bad habits: putting undue pressure on myself, second-guessing decisions, and self-doubt. Those are things that I need to improve about myself.

Lisa: If you could choose one of your books to be adapted for the silver screen, which would you choose? Why do you think it would translate well to film?

Aimee: Second Wind. It would translate well into a movie because this journey would resonate with so many men and women around the world who were forced to hide their true selves. Love doesn’t always come early and easy, but it’s never too late to be true to ourselves and live the life we’re meant to have. Second Wind is about love, loss, and rediscovery. It’s about friendship, and chosen families, and hope. It was the journey of a lifetime for me.

Lisa: If I were to interview Rush and Lincoln, what would they say about you?

Aimee: This lady put everything she had into our story. She made our words, our fears, and our hopes her own and brought us to life.

Lisa: If you won the lottery, what’s the first completely self-indulgent thing you’d do?

Aimee: Exotic vacation for a month. Somewhere within driving distance of an ocean and mountains.

Lisa: If you could sit down to dinner with any author, past or present, who would you choose, and why? What are some things you’d want to chat about?

Aimee: Jane Austen. Her name is synonymous with romance and love. She wrote during a time when women weren’t taken seriously. I’d love to ask her about how she overcame those obstacles.

Lisa: If you were stranded on a desert island, what are three things you’d absolutely have to have?

Aimee: Music, lip balm, and sunblock.

Lisa: If you could be any animal in the world, what would you choose? Why?

Aimee: Dolphin. They live in the ocean and seem so happy. They’re extremely gracious, and I’m not. If I can’t be a mermaid, then I’d at least like to be a dolphin. Who do I speak to about this?

Lisa: If you could travel back in time, with all your years of experience and wisdom intact, what advice would you give to your teenage self?

Aimee: Spend more time with your mother. Don’t forget to tell her every chance you get how much you love her.

Lisa: If you could be any fictional character in the history of literature, who would you like to be and why?

Aimee: Hermione Granger. She knows magic, is highly intelligent, loyal, and freaking fearless.

Lisa: Thanks for the chat, and congratulations on the new book. And readers, don’t forget to check out the giveaway below. There’s a $10 Amazon gift card up for grabs!

About the Book

Title: Second Wind
Author: Aimee Nicole Walker
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 14 February 2018
Cover Design: Jay Aheer/Simply Defined Art
Blurb: Second wind: a new strength or energy to continue something that is an effort. After an amicable divorce, Lincoln Huxley is ready to embrace the sexuality he repressed for more than two decades. Rush Holden is no longer willing to settle for closeted men or those who don’t share his dreams of marriage and fatherhood. A chance encounter on a lakeside pier is the second wind they both need. Or will it just be a painful reminder of all they had lost?

Second chance: an opportunity to try something again that failed one time. Rush and Lincoln have shared a lot of firsts—friendship, young love, and heartbreak. Cruel reality forced the two men to choose paths that took their lives in different directions. Twenty-six years later, they get a second chance to fall in love with each all over again. Can it really be that simple, or will the same issues ruin their happiness a second time?

Happily ever after: to live happily for the rest of one’s life. Rush and Lincoln know that love and life can’t be defined by words alone. Patience, commitment, and the determination to do whatever it takes will be the only way the two men achieve their happily ever after.

Second Wind is a funny, sexy, and endearing standalone romance novel about love, loss, and rediscovery. It contains sexually explicit material and is intended for adults 18 and older.

[zilla_button url=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079QKNW5L/?tag=geolinker-20″ style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Available at Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]

Tour Excerpt

I suddenly felt an invisible pull to go to the pier and ride the damn thing. No, Rush wouldn’t be with me in person, but the memory of him would be. I walked the short distance and bought tickets for the Centennial Wheel. The pier was packed with families and friends just looking to have a good time and enjoy the beautiful June weather before the serious humidity hit later in the month.

I felt a little silly as I approached the long line by myself, but I passed the time by texting Phee and checking my email. The line had suddenly stopped advancing, and I wondered if the ride broke down or something. Then I heard the chatter about newlyweds posing for photos with the grand Ferris wheel in the background.

“Look how handsome the grooms look,” someone said.

“It so good that people don’t have to hide any longer,” another person added.

I stepped out of line to see for myself, and my heart thudded to a stop in my chest before it raced with recognition. It wasn’t the grooms that held me spellbound; it was the photographer. I’d know that stance anywhere because I sure as hell had seen it enough times growing up. The camera he held in his hand was a lot different and more expensive than the ones he used to own, but the way he stood and cradled it like a rare treasure was all the same. Rush! But how was this possible? My mind had to be playing tricks on me. This moment was nothing but a fantasy brought on by all the trips down memory lane I’d made the past twenty-four hours. I would wake up to find that I fell asleep in the hotel room instead of walking to the pier.

There was no way in hell that Rush, my Rush, was a few hundred feet away from me. It had to be someone who resembled him. The photographer turned around and smiled at something his assistant said to him. I started walking toward him without stopping to think if I should. For the first time in more than twenty-six years, my world felt right. My Rush. 

It felt like I’d caught my second wind.

About the Author

I am a wife and mother to three kids, three dogs, and a cat. When I’m not dreaming up stories, I like to lose myself in a good book, cook or bake. I’m a girly tomboy who paints her fingernails while watching sports and yelling at the referees.

I will always choose the book over the movie.

I believe in happily-ever- after.

Love inspires everything that I do.

Music keeps me sane.

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The Giveaway

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