2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Adam Hunt comes to Savannah in search of Rebecca and takes over her office space as well as Caitlyn as his client. What did you make of him at the time? Were you suspicious of his motives being more than finding Rebecca?

Adam's character is very similar to Ty in Hot Blooded in having his own agenda.

While Ty eventually grew on me and I ultimately believed his feelings for Sam were real, Adam's actions are far more troubling. Having a sexual relationship with a patient is abuse plain and simple. Not only is he a psychologist in a position of power taking advantage of his patient, but she is obviously mentally unstable and very suggestible. His actions are reprehensible and I did not believe their romance at all.

Adam was a mysterious character to me. I didn't know what to make of him in the beginning. I agree he reminded me of Ty a little. He was working as an amateur sleuth while taking over Rebecca's practice.

I didn't have a problem with his relationship with Caitlyn. I expect that to happen in fiction although there didn't seem to be enough chemistry for the relationship to last.

Adam definitely had his own agenda in taking Caitlyn as a client. Yes, he wanted to find Rebecca, but he also wanted to find out what had her so excited before she disappeared. It took awhile to figure out what he was really about. I was reminded of Ty too.

Yep, this is romantic suspense and written a little while ago so anything goes. Especially inappropriate/forbidden relationships. But I agree with Lauren here, definitely not okay when looking at it with 2021 eyes.

I was suspicious of Adam but not for anything evil. I just thought he was hiding something. I couldn’t figure out the why of his search for Rebecca.

Good catch, Lauren! The author has a “type” because he’s almost a mirror image of Ty.

This book was written in 2003 and ethics rules against psychiatrists having personal, intimate relationships with their patients/clients have been in force much earlier than that. Doctors lose their license to practice.

Here’s what the AMA has to say about it (Code of Medical Ethics Opinion 9.1.1):

“Romantic or sexual interactions between physicians and patients that occur concurrently with the patient physician relationship are unethical. Such interactions detract from the goals of the patient-physician relationship and may exploit the vulnerability of the patient, compromise the physician’s ability to make objective judgments about the patient’s health care, and ultimately be detrimental to the patient’s well-being.

A physician must terminate the patient-physician relationship before initiating a dating, romantic, or sexual relationship with a patient.

Likewise, sexual or romantic relationships between a physician and a former patient may be unduly influenced by the previous physician-patient relationship. Sexual or romantic relationships with former patients are unethical if the physician uses or exploits trust, knowledge, emotions, or influence derived from the previous professional relationship, or if a romantic relationship would otherwise foreseeably harm the individual.

In keeping with a physician’s ethical obligations to avoid inappropriate behavior, a physician who has reason to believe that nonsexual, nonclinical contact with a patient may be perceived as or may lead to romantic or sexual contact should avoid such contact.“

Thanks for clarifying that Jonetta. Just as well it's only fiction . Quite a few of us clearly agree with that ruling and thought its inclusion detracted from their overall opinion of the book.

It was just hard to not think about how utterly unprofessional Adam was being.

I don't know. I just kind of thought he was using her office because it was convenient.

Lauren wrote: "Adam's character is very similar to Ty in Hot Blooded in having his own agenda.

While Ty eventually grew on me and I ultimately believed his feelings for Sam were real, Adam's actions are far mor..."

I didn't see the similarities of Ty and Adam until you guys pointed it out. I was not a fan of Adam at all and did not enjoy their romance. I felt Caitlyn was too vulnerable. I think I would have liked him more if he had come clean with her a lot earlier. (If I remember correctly, Ty came clean fairly early in their relationship and they were able to build on truth and trust.) I feel like the romance would have been more believable and ethical if he was simply a friend who happened to be a psychiatrist. He could have still figured her MPD out, but the ethics and shady dealings would not have been there.

Hannah, I didn’t see the similarities either until Lauren gave that to us. You make a good point about Ty coming clean earlier, which explains why I was able to let go of his early deception. Plus, it wasn’t even half as bad as Adam’s deception.

Hannah wrote: "If I remember correctly, Ty came clean fairly early in their relationship and they were able to build on truth and trust.)."

Yes, he did come clean earlier, which saved the romance for me.

Jonetta wrote: " Plus, it wasn’t even half as bad as Adam’s deception."

Definitely not. There was nothing unethical about Ty's actions and Sam was not mentally unstable and susceptible to a doctor's influence.