Amber Milestone loves her job as a chef at Hale’s View, an upscale restaurant next to Hale Vineyards in Napa Valley, California. She works with her stepfather, who is a partner in the business with Mr. Hale. Amber has more than just a business relationship with Mr. Hale’s son, Jack. She is swept away by Jack’s handsome smile and charmed by his romantic side, which has no limitations when it comes to money or connections. Amidst the lush landscape of the vineyards, she finds herself in a world of seduction that blurs the line between true love and raw passion. Amber and Jack’s devotion to each other is tested by the corrupt world of money and power that threatens to destroy everything they have begun to build. Amber’s dreams of owning her own restaurant are within her reach, but everything comes with a price.
Colleen Green graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor Science in Technology. She has written two romance/suspense books in The Amber Milestone Series. She lives in Ohio. She is a member of Wright Writers of Dayton and is the administrator of their Facebook Page and editor of their newsletter. As a speaker, she enjoys inspiring other writers to continue to learn about the craft of creating stories. She loves to write, read, cook, and spend time with Jay, her boyfriend, and Lucas, their rescue dog that is a Great Pyrenees/Alaskan Malamute.
Not gonna lie, this book confused the heck out of me. It started interesting, but then took me a few chapters to realize that the author had shifted into the past as the main character reminisced. There wasn’t the usual indication of a time change, just a simple sentence. Eventually the author circled back to where the book started, but it was a really long way to get there.
I honestly did like parts of it. There were events that were interesting, and the restaurant scenes were reminiscent of the cooking shows my family likes to watch. But there was an awful lot that seemed haphazard. The growth of the romance between Amber and Jack seemed forced – it didn’t seem to grow organically at all. I kept feeling like I was supposed to expect something else from Jack because of his actions, so I was really off balance on him. I also thought that the subplot involving the restaurant and Jack’s father was a stab at suspense that wasn’t entirely successful.
This is the first in a series, so I am hopeful that the series improves, and Amber was a heroine that I could root for. I just hope that things get a little more realistic and fleshed out in the long run. My Goodreads review is below.
I had a difficult time with this book. My family watches a lot of cooking shows, so I liked that the heroine was a chef. I thought that some of the plot points were good and made sense. However, there were a lot of inconsistencies with characters, and other plot points didn’t seem to be fully realized. I thought the subplot with Amber’s niece was unnecessary, and the sister and brother-in-law were distractions. Their attitudes did not make a lot of sense in the bigger picture. Sadly, I also didn’t fully understand the romance angle with Jack. There were too many red herrings to make me believe that they had an undying love. An event near the end was downright outlandish, as were the machinations of another character. This is the first in a series, so I will be interested in seeing where the story goes from here. It was an okay book, but I hope for better from the rest in the series. This review was written based on a complimentary pre-release copy.
Ryder Morrison is a man of loyalty. To his country, his family, his team.
After joining the Navy, he was secretly recruited to Task Force 779, a specialized unit that infiltrates dangerous situations when no one else can – or will. As the communications expert, it’s his job to clear the way for a smooth mission. He knows where the enemy is hidden at all times and when his team can enter a zone safely.
When things go wrong and he’s captured, declared dead before a search can truly begin, Ryder knows that when he makes his way home, his life will be different … his way home, his life will be different … better. He’ll live for himself from now on, instead of following where duty takes him.
Enter his elusive neighbor …
A woman of mystery and fear.
Codie Ray is a woman filled with pain. Afraid of life and locked away.
She counts to soothe the anxiety. She watches her neighbor because he’s her only lifeline to the outside world. He’s a commitment she doesn’t have to worry will break her. Until the unthinkable happens and her solace is intruded upon. Ryder comes to the rescue and barges his way into her life, pushing past her barriers, causing Codie to rethink her reclusive lifestyle. Slowly being tormented with mind games from an unknown predator, she battles her better judgement and trusts Ryder to do what he does best … hunt down the perpetrator.
Their connection is instantaneous. Two broken people yearning to be loved but afraid to reach for it. Codie fears Ryder will leave when he discovers just how damaged she is. Ryder worries Codie will remain locked away in her mind, unable to break free.
A surprise mission brings both of their fears to life, and when the walls crumble, Ryder is Missing in Action while Codie is just … missing. Will they find each other again or will they disappear, existing only in a memory?
Photographer: Paul Henry Serres Model: Simon – Instagram Designer: Sensual Graphic Designs
Most people think of Walmart as a “new millennium” invention, but this is only partially true. Walmart has been around in one form or another since the 1950s. The first store that even closely resembles what we know it as today opened in Arkansas in 1962. In 1968, the first stores outside of Arkansas opened. As the chain continued to build new stores, they remained confined to southern states.
All of that changed in the 1980s. Walmart went nationwide, building stores as far west as Wyoming. By the end of the 80s, there were stores in over half of the states in the country. Sam Walton, the founder, continued to keep an eye on retail trends and Walmart began to change its offerings to keep up with changing times.
Still, the Walmart of the 1980s is very different from the Walmart of the “twenty-teens.” Take a look at how Walmart changed and grew in the 1980s
Sam Walton-date unknown
That Personal Touch
Here is Sam Walton himself showing a group of associates the front page of a newspaper reporting the grand opening of the store. Sam had his hand in everything from picking locations of stores to designing training of employees and always tried to make an appearance at each opening. He believed that his support of the associates was vital to the business and that his presence fostered the family feeling he hoped to bring to his stores.
1988-Walmart Cheerleaders
Asian Influence on Corporate Culture
Sam Walton was always looking at ways to improve corporate culture and cultivate employee pride in his company. Business leaders in the 1980s became enamored by Korean and Japanese business practices, and Sam was no different. On a visit to Korea, he saw that employees started each day with a company cheer. In this photo from 1988, he looks on as associates lead the cheer of “It’s My Walmart” at a company shareholder meeting.
1983
Early in the 80s, everything started to come together for the Walmart Empire. The following events all occurred in 1983, which proved to be a banner year as several important steps were taken in both expansions of the business and with technology within stores.
The first Walmart: Oklahoma, 1983
Membership Requirements
Up until the early 80s, Walmart had provided discount retailing only to the general public. However, when Costco came on the scene in the late 1970s, Sam knew that he had to adapt his business plan to compete with the newcomer. In 1983, the first Sam’s Wholesale Club opened, offering the by-then-familiar discounts to businesses as well as the public…as long as the consumers became members of the store. Walmart stores continued to flourish as regular retail stores.
Human Greeters
The addition of people welcoming customers was another of Sam’s ideas that emphasized his belief that Walmart needed to remain a family-friendly store. Being greeted at the entrance to a store added a personal touch that made people feel like they were valued customers.
One Hour Photos
Age test: if you know what these are, you know that it was absolute torture during the weeks it took for them to be developed. Waiting to see if your pictures turned out or not was a practice in (im)patience. Walmart made millions of people very happy when they opened their first one-hour photo lab within a store in Oklahoma. People could drop off their film to be developed, do the rest of their shopping, and return to pick up printed pictures all within about an hour. Long before digital cameras, that quick turnaround was a big deal!
Computerized Cash Registers
Cash registers used to require a cashier to punch in the individual numbers of a price of an item and then hit a button that would print the full amount on the receipt. It was time-consuming and also sometimes frustrating if one typed the wrong numbers of a price – there was no delete button back then. Computerized cash registers, combined with the next item, sped up the check out process and provided a more accurate inventory to store managers.
Bar Codes
The introduction of bar codes revolutionized the way retail was tracked and sold. Associates began using hand held scanners that scanned the code, providing an instant readout on the screen that indicated how much more stock of the scanned item was available in the warehouse. The readout allowed managers to keep best-selling items readily available. When connected with the computerized cash registers, the code provided an instant price, thereby largely eliminating human error on pricing.
25th Anniversary
Yes, you see that picture correctly. By the time that Walmart celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1987, they were so ingrained into American consciousness that Mattel and Coca Cola partnered with them to produce specially designed limited-edition anniversary products.
The Super Center is Born
In 1988, Sam finally recognized his dream of offering an “all-in-one” store, when the first Super Center opened in Missouri. Combining his already established retail store with a grocery store people could quite literally get anything they could need in one store. This expansion led to the Walmart that is familiar to millions today.
The debate continues to this day over whether or not Walmart caused the demise of smaller grocery stores and other “Mom and Pop” retailers. There are sound arguments on both sides of the issue. What remains undisputed, however, is that the 80s were a pivotal time in Walmart’s history.
