Strength: Solace Book 3

by Cat Austen

The key to success in most things is STRENGTH.

The final installment of the Solace Trilogy showcases the dual points of view of Emily and Devon as they navigate the fallout of Anthony’s last stand and the return of Gregory. This time, there’s a new family in town intending to take Anthony’s place.
Emily must decide if she wants to own part of the “family business” or return to teaching. She leans on the strength of Sterling and Milo while she grieves the life she has left behind and manages her guilt over Gregory.
Devon struggles to manage the business when his sociopathic father taught him everything he knows. The rage and grief harbored within Devon influences his blooming romance with Emily and strains his brotherhood with Sterling and Milo. He wonders where he fits into the relationship and if he is worthy of love.
Strength begins where Spite ended, intensifying in sexual content. Strength is the third installment in an adult only mafia romance where the female lead character loves more than one man, and some of those men love each other.

Will they give up the family business to the new game in town, or fight to stay in control?
When they tear down their emotional walls, will they find STRENGTH together or go up in flames?

Genres: Why Choose, Found Family

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2024

About the author

Cat is a mom of two little boys in Ohio and writes dirty stories after bedtime.

Reviews

[Morrigan Gaines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may have binge read this entire series over the course of a week and a half so forgive me if the reviews blend into each other a bit. It's hard to keep everything separated.

Solace, the first book in this series, sets the stage for Emily to find her place with her new family of hot mafia men. When Emily discovers her politician husband cheating on her, she takes matters into her own hands and leaves him. In the course of this she takes a woman she met in a salon up on her offer of helping Emily disappear. Cue a mafia kidnapping by 3 objectively hot men. Emily adjusts to this new life but also finds herself changing in both good and potentially dangerous ways.

So onto STRENGTH, book 3 which is Emily and Devon's POV. This book was very light on the mafia aspects. We really got to focus more on Devon's character development and the development of the group as a whole. Emily is also dealing with some sh1t as she was quite recently tossed into the violent world of mafia gangs.

The author is fantastic about providing content guidance for every book and a nice summary in the beginnings of book 2 and 3 to catch readers up on previous events. I would pay attention to content warnings especially in this book and pay attention to the author's note that this book does not necessarily depict safe/healthy BDSM at all times. Devon ramps things up quite a bit. There is a depiction of sub-drop which was nice to see addressed/presented.
Also I would like to applaud the author on the fact that I never had to reread a spice scene to figure out who was where or what body part was where. It all read very smoothly no matter the number of participants.

[Lanae (findmeonsmutlane) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, I absolutely loved and devoured book one. The concept was great, loved the humor, and it had amazing spice. Book two fell a little flat, the plot was a bit confusing, and I didn't get why it was taking so long for Devon and Emily to connect. And now book three just felt like a very long convoluted way to tie up that, and add very minor drama to the mafia aspect.

Ideally this could have been one bigger book. I don't feel like there was enough plot and drama to make three separate books. It felt like making it three books was just a way to write a ton of smut, and prolong the why choose coming together as a whole.

Also, I wasn't a fan of the stuff with Devon when it came to primal play. I feel like there should have been a convo about it and boundaries and safe words set. Emily seemed to enjoy it but then when Devon just left her there? What in the fuck. Yes, when she got back to the house her "after care" was ready. But that was fucking harsh. And then the other guys said they were gonna watch her and that they needed to talk more about it, then it never happened. I get that a lot of times with these "darker" romances, consent, boundaries and stuff are often pushed, ignored or such. But we had such good communication and boundaries and checking in with Sterling and Milo, and then we just kinda ignored it all with Devon. It didn't make sense and made me feel ick.

All in all. Book one was still really good and I really enjoyed it. The other two in the series were misses for me.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yea🤪🫸🫸🫸 ugh I love them. This book definitely wasn’t my favorite of the series but it was still hot. Like Devon was the main guy in this book and yea he is a little crazy 💀 like I think I didn’t enjoy it as much because of his kinks. Like chasing her through the woods and literally fucking her into the ground is a little much for me. And like he didn’t even give her cuddles after that 🫸 but in the end he did become a doctor and that picture in my mind of him in scrubs is just so fucking hot. But I was also kinda cringing when he was “topping” Milo and Emily, like it felt like what it would if it was in real life 💀 but when it was just Emily it was good 🫸 idk why but he just didn’t fit in with the group like I wanted him to 🤷‍♀️ I think this is another affect from pucking around because I think I was expecting him to be like Ilimari because he’s not gay but still is in the group 💀👍 it just was akwarrrdddd 🙂‍↔️ I also wanted her to be pregnant by the end of the book 🫸 and I wanted more sterling like I love that man. My favorite part of the last book was just his jokes, like mans made me laugh all the time in the last book but he like wasnt around in this one. But yea my saying for this book is awkward but hot🫶

[Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ate this series up in three days! It was some of the snackiest reading I've read in a while. Strength was a party sized bag of jalapeno potato chips, and I devoured it all unashamedly. 


Emily's sass was the best, and countering it with Devon's controlling demeanor made great chemistry. The banter between them two made me giggle and kick my feet countless times. Being able to finally read Devon's POV and get into his head to know his true self was well worth the wait. 


The way she worded her intense and emotional scenes was written so visually beautiful. It gripped you by the heartstrings and never let go. I felt anger and sadness with the characters. Through her words, I was able to create the emotional and gripping scenes in my mind. This wasn't a one-time event either. I felt this exact feeling numerous times throughout the series. 


Thank you, Cat, for writing this and giving us stay at home moms to more mafia men to gush over!!

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was NOT ready to say goodbye to Milo, Sterling, Devon and Emily :(

But... what an ending!!

I am not sure if I can write this review without spoilers but I will do my best. Emily is firmly in her Villain era but Devon sees this and helps her merge her new life/personality traits with her old ones which was adorable, but we are still mad at him at the beginning of the book. He eventually stops fighting his feelings for her and holy moly!

There is an INTENSE scene between them all... I want to share, but I won't haha. Just do yourself a favour and read this series!!

- cosy rom com with touch her and die vibes
- finishes the series off so beautifully
- power play/exchange done so well!
- why choose but all the dynamics are just *chefs kiss*
- mafia romance
- some triggers so check

I will NEVER stop recommending this series!!!

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love this trilogy. Content-wise, it's nothing revolutionary. It's just a reverse harem mafia romance. It's dark but the men are never over the top bullies, and the bully part of the romance is long since resolved by the time we get to Strength.

I feel like if you've made it this far in the trilogy, then you know what to expect. The plot had a steady pace that fit well with the relationships between our main characters. There is still quite a bit of relationship building that goes on throughout this book in particular. Nothing is settled at the start.

I enjoy this for what it is. Definitely not perfect, but most assuredly a fun time.

[Ashley Haulk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect perfect perfect.

I’m so sad this trilogy is over :(

Absolute perfect conclusion to the story. I love these books big much.

[ChristinaB · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️