The lovely Becca Dale is here to share some important news...

Cancer – what a scary word. With each passing year I expect to hear that some genius has discovered a cure—that some incredible science nerd (and I mean that with the greatest respect) has discovered the gene or the innate cause of this horrendous illness. I have this amazing confidence in scientists and their abilities to see the unseen, but I am not a patient person. I want instant gratification, or in this case, I at least want answers before my daughter faces the seemingly inevitable. In my family breast cancer tends to skip a generation. It hit my great-great-great grandmother, both of my great grandmothers and my mother.
My sisters and I all have discovered benign cysts but finding that lump scared the crap out of each of us in turn as we waited anxiously for the results. My mother was not so lucky. I was a freshman in college the year she found three tiny lumps. When she went to the doctor, he told her to wait a month to see if they grew. (This was about twenty-five years ago but even then we were flabbergasted.) My dad threw the BS flag on that one, thank heaven, and immediately took Mom to another clinic for a second opinion. There she was tested and diagnosed with cancer. After a full mastectomy on one side and a partial on the other, she was considered in remission. She caught it early enough that it had not spread and she did not have to undergo radiation or chemo. She eventually had reconstructive surgery but that did not go well, and she is self-conscious about her appearance every day. Still, she would rather worry about that and be here than the alternative. Her doctor told her that she was very smart not to have waited as the strain had been aggressive and would have done far more damage in a month. Even though Mom survived and was eventually declared cured with only physical scars to memorialize the event, the emotional upheaval of cancer lingers among us as I am sure it does among families across the world.

So why am I telling you all of this? The lovely women behind Decadent publishing choose a book each month and the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. This month Kya’s King was selected to bear that honor. I will donate my share of February’s proceeds to the cause as well. I feel blessed to be part of such an outstanding group committed to the betterment of our world. Although those sexy, and oh so lovable, nerds are the worker bees making everything happen, someone needs to fund their experiments. If I can help just a little bit toward that cause, then I am happy to do so.

Blurb for Kya’s King

Tender-hearted and lonely, Kya yearns for heritage and home. The staff and animals at the sanctuary where she works have become almost family, but it is not enough. She craves the stability and acceptance she hears in the voice of her dream lover and sees in the eyes of a wounded wildcat.

Chosen to guard the royal heir, Ja claims his lost charge in a desperate attempt to save her from enemies she can not imagine or comprehend. At every turn desire and obligation clash as Kya tests his loyalty to the clan and his will to walk away. Touching her breaks the rules that he has pledged his life to uphold, but fulfilling his duty might destroy everything worth fighting for.

Both must face the roles they were born to play. Hers to lead. His to protect. Can Hannah blindly accept her responsibility as queen or will she turn her back on the extended family she longs for in order to keep the one who destroys her loneliness? Does she even have a choice?

Excerpt:
Help me.
The voice from her dream floated from the cage. Malachi’s eyes held hers without wavering. Hannah looked around for someone playing tricks on her, but the night remained still, eerily quiet as it had been every night since the big cat arrived. “Who’s out there?” No one answered her call. She strained to see beyond the dim circle of the yard light. Nothing moved.
Help me, Hannah.
Fear edged its way into her thoughts. Unconsciously, she slid toward the big cat to protect him. Her hand brushed the back of his massive paw. Malachi did not move. She crawled a little closer. The putrid smell of infection drifted from his open sore. “Do you trust me, Malachi?”
He lay still as she reached carefully through the bars and patted his neck gently. With a shaky laugh, she pulled her hand back glad it remained on the end of her arm.
“Maybe we should try this alone, you and I, huh?” She considered the insanity of the idea only a moment before she ran to the medical lab and gathered the necessary equipment. She had never treated an animal by herself but had assisted Harry often enough to feel confident in what she was doing.
Within moments she stood outside Malachi’s cage once more. The cat lay as she had left him. On her knees so as not to frighten him, Hannah inched across the safety line and sat next to the animal’s outstretched paw. She readied the antiseptic on a clean cloth and laid out bandages and antimicrobial solution. “Are you ready for this?” With a shaky smile, she gently patted his leg. “I hope so because I’m not sure I am.” Her hand shook as she picked up the cloth. “Don’t eat me, okay?”
http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=174
***

So you want to help but you don’t really like paranormal? I’ll tell you what. If you purchase a copy of any of my other works in February and send me a note saying you did so [authorbecca@yahoo.com] I will donate the proceeds from that sale to the cause as well. Reviews and buy links are available on the right hand side of my blog Becca’s Retreat: http://beccadale.blogspot.com or you can find me on Amazon.

Thanks so much for having me here today, Rachel, and I look forward to hearing from your readers. Perhaps this will be the year that cancer becomes just another illness that humans have wrestled into submission.

Wow, what a wonderful post, Becca...I am so glad your mom is living a happy and healthy life. I, too, have been touched by breast cancer. It was a scare on my part but I have two cousins (sisters) who have both had full masectomies. They are both in remission now and long may they be. This is a fantastic idea and I am off to download your new book right now.

I strongly encourage both mine and your readers to do the same - thanks in advance, lovely people!

Rachel x