Author Spotlight: Welcome Dakota Harrison–She’s stepping into the World of Cozy Fantasy

I’m so delighted to welcome author Dakota Harrison back to the Spotlight. She’s been here before with her contemporary romances with our favorite publisher, Tule Publishing. Today, she brings something new to the spotlight–cozy fantasy. I had to look that one up, and wow, is the concept ever intriguing. Google told me that “Cozy fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy focused on comforting, low-stakes stories set in magical worlds, emphasizing warmth, community, relationships, and everyday life over epic battles or high-stakes conflicts. It offers a relaxing escape with feel-good vibes, gentle pacing, and charming, often domestic, details like tea, food, and found families, making it a popular genre for readers seeking comfort and a break from real-world stress.” I’m pretty sure we need comfort and a break from the real-world stress right now, so I’m very glad Dakota is here today.

Dakota lives in a (not so) sunny part of Queensland, Australia, with her human and fur kids, and harbors a strange love of UGG boots. K- and J-Pop feature heavily in her home, especially when drafting her novels, drawing inspiration for her heroes from the music videos and anime, much to her children’s delight and her husband’s sufferance. She loves writing both alpha and beta heroes, all of whom she tortures and makes fall to their knees before their heroines and beg for mercy.

Follow Dakota Harrison on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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Hi!! It’s so great to be back on Nan’s wonderful blog! Thank you for having me. Those who know me as Dakota Harrison, one author of the Australian-set series, With Love From Kurrajong Crossing, know that the series is now complete at twelve books!

As I am taking a small break from contemporary romance, I was asked to join a US-based series focused on the paranormal side of things: vampires, werewolves, monsters, fae—whatever took our fancy. My first love of reading and writing is fantasy and Sci-Fi.

I also have an award-winning Sci-Fi romance series under the name Angelica Grymm (a name that I and a good friend write our own standalone books under), The Mendovan Alliance Chronicles. It’s my love letter to shows like Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, and Star Trek. Very space opera-ish.

So, I was chuffed to be invited to this particular series, The Monster Brides. The excerpt below is from my latest release, which came out last week! It’s called Accidental Goddess, and is a cozy portal fantasy. Our heroine is dragged through a dimensional portal into another world, one on the brink of war.

GIVEAWAY! I hope you enjoy the little snippet below. One lucky commenter will win an eBook copy of Accidental Goddess!

Accidental Goddess

When You Grow Up Believing You’re Human…

Fleeing a menacing creature through New York’s Central Park at midnight is not Alli’s idea of fun. Neither is plummeting through a dimensional portal and awakening on an unknown world upon the brink of war.

After being chased, an enigmatic human patrolman aids her. She escapes into the forest and is astonished to find herself confronted by a figure from a forgotten mythology, an elf. Taken into their fold for asylum, her true identity is revealed—their lost goddess, thought long dead.

D’Artan can’t stop thinking about the woman he saved, but she is elven and forbidden by the gods. Thrown together again when magic goes awry, he must find a way to keep her safe and get her home before his father, the king, returns. With tensions between humans and elves at breaking point, the races divided by hatred and fear, Alli and D’Artan know they can never be together.

Still, he cannot forget her.

And from the shadows, an ancient menace watches. Biding its time; waiting to strike.

The Accidental Goddess is available at Amazon.

Excerpt

Horses? Please let it be horses. Horses meant people.

Coming around a bend, five enormous figures on horseback reined in at the far end of a clearing.

“Thank heaven.” Alli waved her arm in the air and yelled, “Hey! Hello! Can you help me? I …”

One of her would-be rescuers wheeled his horse around at her voice.

He roared, his earsplitting voice echoing across the space, hatred pulsating through one unintelligible word.

Alli stopped dead and shook her head. Light exploded behind her eyes, momentarily blinding her. Pressure in her ears built until she thought they would burst. She slapped her hands to her ears and stumbled as it released in an audible rush. Tingling stung her skin, her entire body prickling as if sunburned.

The man yelled again. It sounded like … human. She looked closer at the animal the man was on. That was no horse. It had six legs. Six. And two very sharp-looking horns.

For a moment, all was still. Then, the man reached down. The rasp of a sword being drawn was clear even from across the glade. He raised it high, sunlight glinting on the highly polished blade, and spurred his animal, dropping the point and aiming straight for her.

Alli screamed. She whirled around and bolted back into the thick trees. This couldn’t be happening.

Sharp shouts echoed behind her in a language she couldn’t understand. A horn blew. Alli forced her legs to go faster, weaving through the thickest trees she could see to get away from her pursuers. The crash of branches behind her drove her on as they made the tree line.

A strange whistle sounded past her left ear. And again. Arrows stuck out at odd angles from trees in front of her.

Alli could hear rushing water. If she could just get to it …

Who was she kidding? She had no idea what she’d do then.

The line of trees thinned ahead. She burst through them into blinding sunlight. Beyond the open swath rushed a wide river, thick forest towering, crowding the bank on the other side. Alli didn’t know how far behind her they were, but it couldn’t be too far.

She bolted across the wide expanse toward the river. It seemed so far away. If she could make it to the other side, she might just be able to lose them.

Desperation overwhelmed her. She needed to get to the other side.

The thundering of hooves echoed through her head as she ran. It seemed the whole goddamn cavalry was behind her.

The river was only fifty yards away, if —

Alli’s feet left the ground. Her head spun with the sudden weightlessness. Pain pierced her stomach and ribs as something hauled her upward. She kicked out, trying to get her heels to contact anything that would cause pain and help her escape. Twisting and writhing, she clawed at the powerful arm clamped like steel around her ribs; her nails no match for the hardened leather encasing the forearm. Her captor pulled her in close on the saddle and wheeled the horse-thing around. It stopped without warning, jerking the breath from her lungs.

Warmth flowed over her ear, a stark contradiction to the cool air. Her ears throbbed in time with her heartbeat as she tried to make out his words.

“Sit still if you want to live, lady.”

Find Angelica Grymm’s other books here.

Dakota Harrison’s Tule Publishing Contemporary Romances are here.