Reviewed by: Lily
TITLE: Patient Privilege
AUTHOR: Allison Cassatta
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 278 pages
BLURB:
Dr. Erik Daniels knows how it feels to lose everything. His addiction to alcohol cost him his fiancé and his private practice, but he finally managed to regain control over his life and become a successful substance abuse counselor. He helps people regardless of their ability to pay. It isn’t the dream life he had in San Francisco, but at least he has something to be proud of. Everything seems to be getting back on the right track until he meets Angel, a heroin-addicted male prostitute.
Erik not only sees a lot of himself in Angel but a great deal of potential as well. He’s willing to sacrifice a lot to get Angel on the right path—but it will come at a cost to his carefully rebuilt career.
REVIEW:
Dr Erik Daniels is a recovering alcoholic who is working as a substance abuse therapist at a rehabilitation clinic. At the same time he is still dealing with his emotional trauma regarding his past alcohol abuse.
Angel ran away from home when he was in his teens due to his father’s reaction to his disclosure that he was gay. When Erik finds Angel in the ER following an accidental heroin overdose he discovers that Angel is an addict who is paying for his habit through prostitution. Erik is drawn towards Angel, and his friend Jon, and he makes a personal commitment to help both of them. I guess this is how Erik’s counter-transference issues started. He was emotionally caught up in Angel’s issues to the point he was going an extra mile for Angel and his friend. The way he wanted to fix Angel and help Jon made sense to me, especially when Erik’s ex-partner comes back into the picture. It seemed as though Erik saw a bit of himself in Angel and a bit of his ex in Jon.
Reading the story from Erik’s perspective was very powerful for me. He was absolutely battling with his ethical issues as a therapist versus his attraction towards Angel. I guess the crunching point was when he became sexually aware of Angel. This part in the story made me feel a sense of dread because I was able to imagine some of the possible consequences for Erik. It was written in a very straightforward manner, no emotional chitter-chatter or fluff. It was simply about Erik crossing the professional boundaries and plunging himself into dangerous territory. Wow, just wow!
Although at times the story seemed weighted down in dialogue the focus remained on Erik and Angel’s journey of recovery. I loved how the writer did not shy away from writing a romance with a patient/therapist relationship and the story felt real to me.
This was no “usual” sensuous romance story because of the initial nature of Erik and Angel’s relationship. As a result, the end was surprising to me. But the epilogue made it clear that these two were meant to be together despite the rocky start of their relationship. The ultimate romantic in me really liked how the writer concluded Erik and Angel’s story. It was tactful, peaceful and romantic.
This is a very refreshing and powerful story, which I shall read again in the future.
RATING:
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