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I'll Get You Home: Part 1: Combat Zone
A scandalous combat photographer.
An irreproachable TV Producer.
Three days under siege.
By Goldie Award winning author Patricia Spencer.
Pulitzer Prize-winning combat photographer Brenna Rease has spent two and a half years embedded in a war zone. She has witnessed enough atrocity to push her to the brink of madness and she knows she has to get out before it kills her. But when she's offered the documentary she has always wanted to shoot, she can’t resist one last assignment.
TV Producer Grace Alcott finds Brenna’s personal reputation repugnant, knows she will be a management nightmare, and wants nothing to do with her. But with her job on the line, she is forced to hire her anyway.
Before they know it, the two of them are on a Herc C-130, flying into the heart of a besieged Balkan city just as a major military offensive is launched.
For three hellish days in 1994, convinced that escaping alive is impossible, they never consider what it will take to survive once they get back home to Washington, D.C.
The first third of this novel is set in a war zone. It contains intense material.
=========
IMPORTANT NOTE
THE BOOKS IN THIS TRILOGY ARE NOT STAND-ALONE READS!
Due to its length, this novel has been split into three sequential parts, which must be read in
-I’ll Get You Part 1 – Combat Zone – Starts at the beginning of the story and ends with a cliff-hanger;
- I’ll Get You Part 2 – Battle Scars – Starts with a change in location from where Part 1 left off, and ends with a cliff-hanger; and
- I’ll Get You Part 3 – Redemption – Starts with a change in location from where Part 2 left off, and concludes the novel.
All three parts of this book have already been published.
An irreproachable TV Producer.
Three days under siege.
By Goldie Award winning author Patricia Spencer.
Pulitzer Prize-winning combat photographer Brenna Rease has spent two and a half years embedded in a war zone. She has witnessed enough atrocity to push her to the brink of madness and she knows she has to get out before it kills her. But when she's offered the documentary she has always wanted to shoot, she can’t resist one last assignment.
TV Producer Grace Alcott finds Brenna’s personal reputation repugnant, knows she will be a management nightmare, and wants nothing to do with her. But with her job on the line, she is forced to hire her anyway.
Before they know it, the two of them are on a Herc C-130, flying into the heart of a besieged Balkan city just as a major military offensive is launched.
For three hellish days in 1994, convinced that escaping alive is impossible, they never consider what it will take to survive once they get back home to Washington, D.C.
The first third of this novel is set in a war zone. It contains intense material.
=========
IMPORTANT NOTE
THE BOOKS IN THIS TRILOGY ARE NOT STAND-ALONE READS!
Due to its length, this novel has been split into three sequential parts, which must be read in
-I’ll Get You Part 1 – Combat Zone – Starts at the beginning of the story and ends with a cliff-hanger;
- I’ll Get You Part 2 – Battle Scars – Starts with a change in location from where Part 1 left off, and ends with a cliff-hanger; and
- I’ll Get You Part 3 – Redemption – Starts with a change in location from where Part 2 left off, and concludes the novel.
All three parts of this book have already been published.
- GenresLesbian
273 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 30, 2025
8 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 28, 2026
**'Sometimes nice storytelling is not enough. It's good to be provocative, bloody-minded, dispense with being safe, astonishing and even add unexpected surprises. This makes your storyline compelling to readers..'
Riveting read!
Such a gripping, gritty, raw depth, intense and well written book #1 in this 'Combat Zone: I'll Get You Home' series -- with an interwoven romance.
A highly recommended book!
Riveting read!
Such a gripping, gritty, raw depth, intense and well written book #1 in this 'Combat Zone: I'll Get You Home' series -- with an interwoven romance.
A highly recommended book!
April 23, 2025
I could not put this novel down! Thank goodness this is the start of a trilogy as I would not survive otherwise.
Combat photographer Brenna Rease is many things and most of them veteran television producer Grace Alcott despises. Brenna carries with her a reputation of being unprincipled in both her life and her work. Her status as a Pulitzer Prize Winner though has Grace’s boss forcing her to work with Brenna on a new documentary. They will be filming for three days in an active Balkan war zone. This will undoubtedly be the longest three days in Grace’s life.
Combat Zone is an emotionally raw and at times brutal read. It is war at its basest level yet it is the exquisite writing that keeps me reading. The evocative descriptions of the war torn region and its inhabitants create a gripping virtual reality. In the middle of the surrounding death and destruction lies the unexpected beginnings of a love story.
I received an advance review copy from the author and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Combat photographer Brenna Rease is many things and most of them veteran television producer Grace Alcott despises. Brenna carries with her a reputation of being unprincipled in both her life and her work. Her status as a Pulitzer Prize Winner though has Grace’s boss forcing her to work with Brenna on a new documentary. They will be filming for three days in an active Balkan war zone. This will undoubtedly be the longest three days in Grace’s life.
Combat Zone is an emotionally raw and at times brutal read. It is war at its basest level yet it is the exquisite writing that keeps me reading. The evocative descriptions of the war torn region and its inhabitants create a gripping virtual reality. In the middle of the surrounding death and destruction lies the unexpected beginnings of a love story.
I received an advance review copy from the author and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 9, 2025
This book was first published in 2011 as a heterosexual romance and has now been significantly revised into a sapphic romance. I received a free ARC of I'll Get You Home from the author and I leave a review voluntarily.
Brenna is an immensely talented photographer that is so damaged and suicidal, after her years experiencing first hand what war is all about. Grace wants to come along since her job has been in a slump after she lost her wife and son in an accident, it has been so hard after that disaster happened.
When reading the combat zone part of the book I was completely mesmerized and could not stop reading the horrific and realistic tale about Brenna and Grace visiting the fictional war zone Kavşak to film a documentary on what is going on there. They experience so much together in just a few days and ultimately fall in love, but it is not meant to be, it is all about somehow surviving.
A must to read also book 2 and 3 in this series to get the whole story.
Brenna is an immensely talented photographer that is so damaged and suicidal, after her years experiencing first hand what war is all about. Grace wants to come along since her job has been in a slump after she lost her wife and son in an accident, it has been so hard after that disaster happened.
When reading the combat zone part of the book I was completely mesmerized and could not stop reading the horrific and realistic tale about Brenna and Grace visiting the fictional war zone Kavşak to film a documentary on what is going on there. They experience so much together in just a few days and ultimately fall in love, but it is not meant to be, it is all about somehow surviving.
A must to read also book 2 and 3 in this series to get the whole story.
April 4, 2025
First things first: this is a gripping, intense, riveting, well written and absolutely brilliant book which I really loved and couldn't put down! Both main characters are complicated women who have suffering and grief in their pasts. When they are thrown together in a combat zone, they will be tested in ways I never saw coming. These women will learn about each other and themselves in the three days they spend in almost constant danger. And like combat units often do, they will form indissoluble bonds. But will those bonds hold?
This is part 1 of a trilogy and primarily takes place in a war torn city. Be aware, if you have trouble reading about war including all of the heinous acts that go along with it, this may not be the book for you. To achieve a realistic setting and feel, the author did extensive research. The siege of the fictional city of Kavsak is based on the siege of Sarajevo.
These women are layered, real people. And the novel's action fuels growth and change in them. As their time together goes on, we both learn about their pasts and see struggles that bring them to greater understanding of themselves. But at what point do people reach their breaking point? When does all the ugliness and brutality of war eclipse any beauty the world still holds?
I found the story to be heart pumping and heart grabbing. I felt compelled to find out what was coming next. But underneath the drama is a completely thoughtful and soul searching story. I found myself highlighting passages I found compelling and worth reflecting on.
For example, this passage comes at the end of the first day in Kavsak: "The day was collapsing on Grace. Not just because of the physical pounding she'd taken, but because she defined herself as a moral woman and today Kavsak had forced her to revise her opinion. She was struggling psychologically, clinging to her beleaguered sense of personal decency while Kavsak hammered her."
All the way through the book, I had to ask myself, what if I had these experiences? Would I be able to live with myself after?
I think the best books help us understand things we haven't experienced and cause us to feel empathy or wonder and sometimes cause us to ask ourselves hard questions. That is what this book did for me. And, even after finishing it, it continues to cause me to ask questions and find honest answers. That is both scary and thrilling. And it's a testament to the power of this novel.
This is a trilogy. Part 1 is the combat zone. Do not expect a simple ending. The story of these characters will continue to develop in the next two books. It is definitely a story worth reading. I highly recommend this book!
Thanks to the author for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
This is part 1 of a trilogy and primarily takes place in a war torn city. Be aware, if you have trouble reading about war including all of the heinous acts that go along with it, this may not be the book for you. To achieve a realistic setting and feel, the author did extensive research. The siege of the fictional city of Kavsak is based on the siege of Sarajevo.
These women are layered, real people. And the novel's action fuels growth and change in them. As their time together goes on, we both learn about their pasts and see struggles that bring them to greater understanding of themselves. But at what point do people reach their breaking point? When does all the ugliness and brutality of war eclipse any beauty the world still holds?
I found the story to be heart pumping and heart grabbing. I felt compelled to find out what was coming next. But underneath the drama is a completely thoughtful and soul searching story. I found myself highlighting passages I found compelling and worth reflecting on.
For example, this passage comes at the end of the first day in Kavsak: "The day was collapsing on Grace. Not just because of the physical pounding she'd taken, but because she defined herself as a moral woman and today Kavsak had forced her to revise her opinion. She was struggling psychologically, clinging to her beleaguered sense of personal decency while Kavsak hammered her."
All the way through the book, I had to ask myself, what if I had these experiences? Would I be able to live with myself after?
I think the best books help us understand things we haven't experienced and cause us to feel empathy or wonder and sometimes cause us to ask ourselves hard questions. That is what this book did for me. And, even after finishing it, it continues to cause me to ask questions and find honest answers. That is both scary and thrilling. And it's a testament to the power of this novel.
This is a trilogy. Part 1 is the combat zone. Do not expect a simple ending. The story of these characters will continue to develop in the next two books. It is definitely a story worth reading. I highly recommend this book!
Thanks to the author for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
March 31, 2025
Firstly these are not stand alone novels. Nor is the first one left at a place you will be happy to leave it. I need to know more. Gritty and gripping. I have rarely read a novel that has so quickly had me so immersed in the setting. I barely breathed the whole time I read. There is a romance but this is not a romance novel. There is a war, but this is not a war novel. There is brutality and reality, and yes parts are really brutal. This is a book worth reading. I cannot wait to pick up the second part. (I am looking on the series as one big book, so technically 5 is for the start, as I said this is not complete but this bit is completely engrossing!)
March 27, 2025
I received this book as an ARC and this is my voluntary review of Part 1.
This story will pull you in and leave you reeling. If you don't already wonder how the hell so much anger and hate can be seen in a world where so much beauty exists, well crack open this book and you will certainly start questioning humanity.
When a warzone has been your home for 2.5 years your mind, body, and soul are sure to be forever damaged. So how do you survive when you believe you have been broken beyond repair? This story illuminates how two women fighting their way through a battleground in an effort to show the world the brutality that war is causing through the eye of a camera lens, find they must cling to one another for survival. It brings to life a harrowing tale of the true ugliness that war reigns down on helpless citizens still fighting for a ruined city.
I did not want to put this book down and will definitely be going right into Part 2 of this captivating story.
This story will pull you in and leave you reeling. If you don't already wonder how the hell so much anger and hate can be seen in a world where so much beauty exists, well crack open this book and you will certainly start questioning humanity.
When a warzone has been your home for 2.5 years your mind, body, and soul are sure to be forever damaged. So how do you survive when you believe you have been broken beyond repair? This story illuminates how two women fighting their way through a battleground in an effort to show the world the brutality that war is causing through the eye of a camera lens, find they must cling to one another for survival. It brings to life a harrowing tale of the true ugliness that war reigns down on helpless citizens still fighting for a ruined city.
I did not want to put this book down and will definitely be going right into Part 2 of this captivating story.
April 2, 2025
This book is broken into three parts, and, believe it or not, it's a love story set in the middle of a bloody civil war. The relationship between combat photographer Brenna and corporate executive producer Grace appears so incongruous at the beginning. They clearly don't care for each other, they both have a ton of baggage, and they're stuck together in a war zone. Their romance is low key at first. The book itself is gritty and super intense. It's bloody and violent and compelling! I felt like I was in the middle of the action, and I couldn't put it down. Grace's innate kindness wins over bad girl Brenna slowly but surely. Hang on to your hat. This is a powerful story.
April 1, 2025
Captured the effects of war in all its hopeless, gory misery. This is a novel that'll have you tearing up throughout, with hope being traded for a desperate need for survival.
The dynamic of the main characters is so vibrant, and just feels so incredibly real.
I highly recommend this book if this is the genre for you!
Please note: I did get an advance copy, but this opinion is mine alone.
The dynamic of the main characters is so vibrant, and just feels so incredibly real.
I highly recommend this book if this is the genre for you!
Please note: I did get an advance copy, but this opinion is mine alone.
April 10, 2025
Patricia Spencer certainly knows how to weave a story to keep you turning the pages!
We met Brenna, an award winning, war zone photographer with a sordid past and Grace, a producer of several documentaries. This documentary was a project her wife had been working on before she died.
Grace’s boss Sam forced her into hiring Brenna to film the documentary, since she had been involved in the war in the city of Kavsak during the Balkan wars.
Grace doesn’t trust Brenna, leaves the office, and accompanies Brenna into the war zone. For three days, which seemed like much longer, the brutality of war and disregard for citizens were shown through the lens of the camera. Contrasting that, you also see the gentle insights into the gentleness and hope.
This is a trilogy but after reading book one, rest assured that this book is not for the faint of heart, and it certainly will keep you turning the pages!
I’m looking forward to the next two books in this trilogy.
I received an ARC from the author.
We met Brenna, an award winning, war zone photographer with a sordid past and Grace, a producer of several documentaries. This documentary was a project her wife had been working on before she died.
Grace’s boss Sam forced her into hiring Brenna to film the documentary, since she had been involved in the war in the city of Kavsak during the Balkan wars.
Grace doesn’t trust Brenna, leaves the office, and accompanies Brenna into the war zone. For three days, which seemed like much longer, the brutality of war and disregard for citizens were shown through the lens of the camera. Contrasting that, you also see the gentle insights into the gentleness and hope.
This is a trilogy but after reading book one, rest assured that this book is not for the faint of heart, and it certainly will keep you turning the pages!
I’m looking forward to the next two books in this trilogy.
I received an ARC from the author.
October 30, 2025
Action packed and intense, I couldn't tear my eyes away and hated it when I had to put it down for real life work. Now onto book 2...
September 9, 2025
Brilliant and brutal: two women documenting a hot warzone
This book is brilliant and it is brutal: it is a brutally honest portrayal of the horrors of war - imagine the worst and multiply tenfold. However, in the middle of the bleakest hours of mankind, mortar shells and death Spencer brilliantly places the most touching moments and insights into human nature and there are small but steady beacons of goodness and hope. Intense, impressive and utterly engrossing. A deserving read, not though for the weak at heart.
There is Brenna Rease, a hardened veteran of war zones. She has seen all as an award winning photographer. Although near her breaking point she consents to film a documentary in Kavsak, a city under siege during the balkan wars in the 90s. The TV producer Grace Alcott, distrustful of Brenna, leaves her desk to accompany her.
They‘re dropped in an active combat zone for three days. Three days where there is no quarter given, where they’re stripped down to bare essentials - on the outside and inside. Who are they in the face of naked survival and death?
The prose is intense, the desciptions of the besieged city and the realities of war nearly documentary in clear cut, stark, shocking, cinematographic pictures, nothing is left out - we see through the cold lens of Brenna‘s camera and we feel through Grace‘s kindness and Brenna‘s compassion. Both are drawn to each other when their only focus can be to survive.
This is part one of a trilogy. It focuses on those three days of survival in a foreign war. It’s a timely read when war and warmongering are so easily advocated for by those who seek glory and are oblivious of the atrocities of warfare.
I look forward to reading the next books of this trilogy and this superb author.
I received an ARC. The review is left voluntarily.
This book is brilliant and it is brutal: it is a brutally honest portrayal of the horrors of war - imagine the worst and multiply tenfold. However, in the middle of the bleakest hours of mankind, mortar shells and death Spencer brilliantly places the most touching moments and insights into human nature and there are small but steady beacons of goodness and hope. Intense, impressive and utterly engrossing. A deserving read, not though for the weak at heart.
There is Brenna Rease, a hardened veteran of war zones. She has seen all as an award winning photographer. Although near her breaking point she consents to film a documentary in Kavsak, a city under siege during the balkan wars in the 90s. The TV producer Grace Alcott, distrustful of Brenna, leaves her desk to accompany her.
They‘re dropped in an active combat zone for three days. Three days where there is no quarter given, where they’re stripped down to bare essentials - on the outside and inside. Who are they in the face of naked survival and death?
The prose is intense, the desciptions of the besieged city and the realities of war nearly documentary in clear cut, stark, shocking, cinematographic pictures, nothing is left out - we see through the cold lens of Brenna‘s camera and we feel through Grace‘s kindness and Brenna‘s compassion. Both are drawn to each other when their only focus can be to survive.
This is part one of a trilogy. It focuses on those three days of survival in a foreign war. It’s a timely read when war and warmongering are so easily advocated for by those who seek glory and are oblivious of the atrocities of warfare.
I look forward to reading the next books of this trilogy and this superb author.
I received an ARC. The review is left voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews