The Property of Joseph McBaden

About the Book

Respected and successful, Joseph McBaden, 44, opens his own firm. The first day he repeats his motto: one more action to justify, but he doesn’t verbalize why. He applies it to the practice and the hiring of an elegant, well-qualified attorney Clarissa Bentley, 33, who is leaving a firm in the Washington and Northern Virginia area. At the interview, opposite positions emerge: he does not handle domestic cases, she wishes to do so. Because she has experience in intellectual property, his area of concentration, he realizes that she can be an asset to the practice. While she considers the client’s heart and dreams, McBaden focuses on protection of the form and content.

Until now, he has had a limited social life. He enjoys his friends and their families, but is exasperated when they try to set him up with dates. He becomes romantically involved with Breear Callum, 23, a new television reporter. His emotional equilibrium is askew. This condition is not helped when Mitchell Rockland, a former pastor of McBaden, is assigned to Windermere. Joseph is surprised to learn Mitch knows his secrets. Thus, Joseph is forced to face his past relationships and their consequences.

Meanwhile, he is adjusting to the new office, Clarissa as an associate, and new clients. The latter bring interesting cases involving intellectual property - all needing immediate handling. However, the most disturbing revelation is one he never anticipated and demands the deepest searching of his heart and the most agonizing decision of his life.

About the Author

Peggy Reid Rhodes has three previous novels: Rosemary for Remembrance An Historical Fiction and two of fiction in contemporary times, Charlotte Greystone and The Property of Joseph McBaden Attorney-At-Law. All are set in Piedmont North Carolina. The author was awarded The Distinguished Alumni Award 2003 by the Alumni Association of Greensboro College. She lives in Winston-Salem, NC.