Member Reviews

Fun romantic novel, Barefoot Beach is about Theia and a certain tall and dark handsome man she can't seem to stop thinking about. You will love the characters in Harmony Harbor!

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Great romance read takes place during wedding season.
Thela is back in Harmony Harbor because of her boss.
Marco has a grandmother who is part of the matchmaking women of the town. But when he meets Thela they decide to pretend they are together. As they keep pretending then real attraction and emotions come into play.
I found the matchmakers to be annoying at times and makes me glad that I never had a family like that lol.
I received this from Forever and NetGalley for review.

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I can finally stop waiting for Marco's HEA!!! I absolutely loved this book!!! The Harmony Harbor series is a must read series!

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Super happy I had time to get caught up on this series - I love Harmony Harbor, and this was probably one of my favorite couples so far. There were moments that ripped my heart out, made me laugh out loud, and the story made me super happy overall.

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I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book was a typical beachy contemporary novel that is light enough for a vacation read. For me it was okay, not one of my favorites, but okay.

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Received in exchange for a honest review.

First and foremost, if you haven’t read any of the previous books in this series you may get lost because there are a lot of characters in this book. A lot of characters you meet in the past books and some new ones.

True to form Debbie Mason has written a fun, entertaining romance filled with great banter, fun times, family, love, loyalty and forgiveness. We see pain and learning to let go of guilt and the past as well. And Theia has to do this in spades.

Theia-very headstrong and wonderful. I love how she helps the girls learn to be proud of what they can do. I love the slow burn of the romance of her and Marco. She is a good person but she is los in her own guilt and past. She is also very loyal to her boss who it seems has more going on than meets the eye and I think she is seeing that more and more and is becoming wary but trusts him and is loyal to him. I didn’t like her motives when she first cameto Harmony Harbour but as she grew more and more attracted to Marco and started to fall in love you see her open her eyes more and see everything around her. She sees family, friendships, love, and hardworking honest people. A group that believes in family and a family’s buisness. A family that is together no matter what even when they don’t really agree or like the other. I love how her and Marco are together. He helps her heal and see beyond what she thought. She isn’t a bad character quite the opposite in fact she is just on a journey that she needed Harmony Harbour and Marco to help jumpstart.

Marco-he is great. Fun, strong, sexy, sweet and an all around great guy. When he and Theia begin this fake relationship you see all the facets of him. I love how supportive he is of girls being independent and learning to do things. I love how supportive of Theia he is as well. He believes in her and wants her to believe more in herself and her talents. It isn’t that she doesn’t believe in that it is more muted due to guilt. Marco helps her heal and let go.

The romance-a fun slow burn. These two start out as acquaintances (annoying ones for Theia at first) and slowly become more. The attraction is through the roof and it does take over at one point. But before that we really get to see these two learn to love and trust one another. We see them be supportive and real.

The story-fun and entertaining. Sweet and sexy. I love the banter of the characters especially Marco and Theia.

A story of forgiveness, family, trust and love. Of healing and letting go and finding your way to where you are meant to be. One with fun times and sad times but no matter what we see everyone support and stand with the ones they love and their friends. Another win for Debbie Mason in this series.

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This was just an okay read for me. While I enjoyed the premise I was kinda disappointed by this really not being much of a beachy type book. Whether the wrong time, or the wrong book for me, I didn't find this very memorable. I think others may like it though.

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I jumped at this title because, with a title Barefoot Beach, I figured there would be nice cozy, summer beach scenes and a sizzling summer romance. Wrong on both accounts. The setting is near the beach, but it really does not involve the beach all that much, and I really did not see the “barefoot” part of it at all. All in all, it was a good, but not exceptional, book. Hoping to beat the town match makers at their own game, hunky firefighter Marco DiRossi sets up a situation where he and Theia, a former combat fighter pilot, pretend to be in Love. However, there is a lot of secrecy in their pasts conspiring to make this work only too well. Throw in an older family patriarch, Daniel, his two sons and two daughters, not to mention a family ghost who crops up everywhere and anywhere, looking like she is trying to run things and things only become more complicated.

I enjoyed watching Marco and Theia interact. Both were strong characters and thus has “met their matches” in more ways than one. Obviously, daniel’s two daughters, each with baggage and secrets of their own, also were taken in by Marco, his charms and good looks, only making the story spicier than ever. As I read the book, though I knew Marco and Theia would end up together, I did not see much chemistry between them—or much romance either. Still, it was interesting to watch the three females (Theia and Daniel’s two daughters) as they reacted, each in her own way, to Marco. I decided I like the way Theia took things in her own way the best. Marco was definitely smooth—almost too smooth and charming to be believable. There is some mystery in the story, some romance and a lot of pretty good writing and interesting characters, so, all in all, as I said, the book was okay for me. It makes a good summer read, whether on the beach, in your air-conditioned easy chair, or traveling. The story reads a bit slow at times, but there are other times when it makes up for this. I have read some, though not all of the other books in the series, and this one will never be my favorite, but I did find it interesting enough to recommend. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

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Debbie Mason always writes such heartwarming tales and this one is no different. I love getting lost in one of her books and I certainly got lost in Barefoot Beach. The story is about Theia being stuck in Harmony Harbor working for her boss on something she doesn't quite want to be doing. It also is about Marco, a firefighter who is dealing with his own issues. When the two meet on a flight they become friendly enough for him to ask her to pretend to be his girlfriend to ward off those trying to set him up. She is uncertain about this but before she can find out for sure how she feels he finds out secrets from her past and wants nothing to do with her. Will they end up happlily ever after? Can you overcome your past and move into your present with ease? It's a great story and I can't wait to read the ninth installment should there be one!

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I'm looking at the title and the photo and thinking "great beach book!" Nope, it's not. It's suspenseful and really interesting but it has neither of those things in it, so don't be mislead. This has an awesome storyline and keeps you entertained. Overall, I felt that it was a great book for vacation.

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Barefoot Beach is a first read for me by Debbie Mason. Although it doesn’t take place near a beach as I thought which I was really looking forward to. it is a great Summer romantic suspense with some supernatural thrown in also. Theia and Marco are great thought out characters. I enjoyed their story although I think some research could’ve been done on firefighters and how they operate.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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This book barely takes place on a beach and Barefoot is not mentioned once. Why title a book "Barefoot Beach" when it doesn't actually takes place on a beach, but in a manor.? Weird… anyways, this is the second book in the Harmony Harbor series that I have read and I have to say that I liked the other one much better. This book is titled Barefoot Beach involves Marco who is a very hot firefighter and Theia, a retired navy flight fighter. With the town's matchmaker on the prowl, Marcos decides to ask Theia if she can be his fake girlfriend and I'm sure you can imagine how this plays out. Will Theia stay in Harmony Harbor for love or will her secrets keep her from finding love? Let's find out.


I was really entertained by the premise of the story, but I did not care much for the romance
aspect of the story. You see, there is this weird thing with family marrying each other. Not like sister and brother, but more like cousin in laws and this was very off putting to me. This town made it seem like there were only two families that you could marry and it was very weird and I can't really go deep into it without spoiling it, but these two families marry each other and it really should cause some type of gene mutation. I mean not really, but everything is kept in the family for sure. On the other hand, this story has suspense, intensity and, to be completely honest, was the saving grace of the story. As I mentioned before, the romance was meh and their chemistry was not there. I feel as if the author was so busy trying to set up the suspense and mystery of the story that the romance was kind of an afterthought.

The strange thing about this story is the fact that a ghost is giving all of details of the story and reveals the big secret. I really would have liked for the scenes to play out, but they were told to me instead of showed and that happens a lot in this story. This story is filled with twist and turns in which I love, but there is one scene in question that I loathe. Don't worry it's not a spoiler, but Marco receives a phone call about a major plot point in the story and the name of the caller is never revealed or mentioned again. What? I need details and facts to put this story together and I am missing some pieces. A villain is in the story and when he decides to show his face in place, things start to really move and with this character is excitement and action.

Although I enjoyed this story, I will have to give this story a 3.5 rating. The suspense and the
story arc was great but the romance was left out in the bitter cold and this is supposed to centered around romance…So yeah…. My tea turned cold while reading this book because the romance did not give me chills and this is what I live for.

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Maybe read the series in order...

In my never-ending search for new authors to feed my book habit(!), I discovered this book as a time-constrained Advanced readers copy via Netgalley. I enjoyed the quirky plot, the hunky guys, the independent and capable women, especially our heroine, and then there is the ghost.... However, sometimes I felt a bit lost. Being dropped into this series during book 8 may be the cause...what's a poor author to do? Rehash prior events until your faithful readers recoil in boredom or let the newcomers figure it out??? As for me, I plan to restart the series with book 1.

4.5 stars for now, may revisit when I read the rest!

Posted on amazon.com, waiting for their vetting process.

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I'm sad to be writing this review because Debbie Mason is one of my favorite authors and I've read nearly every one of her books and enjoyed them. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't my favorite.

I'm torn because I love seeing the pieces of the mystery that surrounds Greystone Manor and the Gallagher family come together with each new book. However, this time around I feel like the mystery aspect took precedence over the romance between Marco and Theia. I just didn't feel connected to them as a couple and, even though I was able to see how they were perfect for each other, I wish that there was more of a focus on the romance between them. Their relationship came across as a little rushed to me in order to make room for more of the secrets of the Gallagher family to be revealed.

It could also be my mood at the time of reading this. I was going through a bit of a slump and read this with just a few days before our family vacation started so that could've affected my opinion. I will probably reread this at another time to see if my feelings change.

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Theia and Marco have made a deal to avoid the matchmakers of Honeymoon Harbor, they'll pretend to have a relationship. This way they can both keep their hearts safe, and keep to their own agendas. But life and the deceased matriarch of the Greystone Manor may have other ideas. The cast of characters are well developed and fun, and the families are very true to life.

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I have loved the Harmony Harbor series full of family with all of the craziness involved, one determined (long passed) matriarch of the family who is dedicated to seeing her descendants happily wed, quite a few long-buried secrets that slowly make their way to the surface and an enemy to all that this family holds dear is lurking in the wings. Now tell me – what is not to love about that? It feels as if we are nearing the ending of this series, and I will be sorry to leave Harmony Harbor but what a ride it’s been and continues to be with BAREFOOT BEACH.

Theia is holding a secret close and guarded. What she didn’t expect was to be asked to play pretend girlfriend to the town’s hottest good guy, Marco. When that secret gets out (and they always do) the pretend no longer feels false but the real feelings between Theia and Marco are now in jeopardy. Somehow they have to fight past the truth, no matter how ugly, and get back to the love they felt mixed in with the pretend. Town matchmakers, a wedding happy ghost and her sidekick are working hard to make this romance a lifetime commitment. Now Theia and Marco have to decide if what they had is real enough to really fight for.

BAREFOOT BEACH left me with a smile on my face, so many feels, and a satisfying visit to Harmony Harbor. I’m repeating myself, but I do love this crazy town and the people who live there. Haven’t visited here yet? Well, each story could stand on its own in many ways, yet… they each connect as well with characters, and a series arching secret yet to be revealed. My suggestion would be to start from the beginning if you can. It’s an amazing journey that if you love a good Romance you won’t want to miss.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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Another cute beachy read. Plus it was a "fake relationship" story which is one of my favorite tropes. Plus a coming home story of sorts. I'm not sure how to fully describe this book. But I do know that I enjoyed my short time reading it. The characters were likeable as a whole. But I did kind of find the plot twist to be a little predictable. Which is why it lost a star.

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A delightful summer romance to read, entertaining even in times when there was tension in addition to a touch of the supernatural and suspense .

Marco is the perfect firefighter hero, brave, loyal, beautiful and full of love to give, he only has a few panics that he will learn to face along with the determined and strong Theia.

Theia is a woman who has not known her father and was raised by very strict uncles and cousins, so he grew up to be unshakeable but gradually realizes how important it is to entrust her vulnerability to another person.

Her moments with Marco are full of chemistry and smiles and the mission that she sets herself to accomplish generates strong suspense in the plot.

I loved the fact that It had a lot of characters active in the plot because that brought agility to the story.

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Barefoot Beach by Debbie Mason is book 8 in the Harmony Harbor Series. It can be read as a standalone but I would recommend reading the previous 7 books as it will give you background on the characters and the family. This book pulled me in right from the first page and kept me turning the pages until the end. I did not want to put this book down. The story is well written and the characters are fun, realistic and believable. This is a fun book. It has drama, romance, lies, a little mystery, twists and turns that will keep you entertained. This is the perfect summer/beach read. I can't wait to see what Debbie has in store for us next.

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Barefoot Beach by Debbie Mason was a new author and series for me. I enjoyed the book and while I had not read any of the previous books, I did not find the story was difficult to follow.

Theia Lawson, a former navy pilot and current small plane pilot is in Harmony Harbor on a secret mission for a friend. She is determined to help her friend to buy up stock in the Greystone Manor with a future goal to tear up the old manor and replace it with new modern condos. She does have mixed feelings about that, but is motivated by money that she feels she needs to pay off a secret debt. Theia is a mixed character, well developed but easily swayed by her feelings about the family of Greystone Manor.

She meets Firefighter Marco DiRossi when he comes to save her from the fire on her plane. Too bad the intelligence on the fire was off and he didn’t need to come in with hoses spewing water. Marco is trying to stay clear of the marriage mart, but there are too many older characters who are pusing Marco into someone’s arms. Theia has a secret and Marco is falling for her, as she is for him, but you know how secrets just cause issues.

The story also includes an old ghost, a black cat who is a familiar to the ghost and various other hijinks including a serious bad guy. The story does wind up to an exciting ending.

Barefoot Beach by Debbie Mason was a good read.

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