The Life O'Reilly

Nick O'Reilly is living the American dream - a great job, an even better paycheck, fancy apartment, the respect of his colleagues but what he doesn't have is a social life outside of his office. His only relationships are with one business partner and his mom.
One day the law firm for which he works decides that in order to change their image to something more than money hungry attorneys, they will be taking on more pro bono cases (which means they will do them for free). Nick is selected to take the first case and his life is forever changed.
He is given a case involving Dawn - a young mom who has been a victim of domestic violence. Along the way, Nick has an awakening that there is more to life than what he's had but he lets his emotions get involved in his work and his life is altered in ways he never expected.
The author writes about Catholic sacraments but unfortunately didn't seem to research enough. A priest rarely officiates at Confirmation (usually it's a Bishop unless it's RCIA candidates), a priest would not marry a divorced person without an annulment being granted (not enough time passed in the book for that to have occurred) and the names of sacraments are almost always capitalized.
I enjoyed the story even as Nick changed lives from high powered attorney to well... I can't tell or it will give away spoilers. I must admit I was left hanging at the end of the book; I am not certain of what happened to Nick but then I guess a good book does leave you with unknowns so you can imagine what might happen next. An important message of The Life O'Reilly is that life can change in an instant so make the very best of every moment.

About the book:
The Life O'Reilly by Brian Cohen
ISBN: 978-1-4401-5025-8
Publisher: iUniverse
Date of publish: Dec 2009
Pages: 269
S.R.P.: $17.95

About the author:
A native New Yorker, Brian Cohen was born in Queens and raised on Long Island. He earned his Bachelor of Accountancy from George Washington University's School of Business and Public Management and his Juris Doctor from St. John's University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. He has been practicing law for twelve years in New York City. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in Westchester County, New York. He is at work on his second novel.

This book was provided to me by Kelley & Hall Book Publicity; I received no monetary compensation for my honest review of the book.