About the Book

Book: When the Mountain Crumbled (A Day to Remember Book 4)

Author: Angela K Couch

Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

Release date: September, 2024

Though Mountains Crumble, Hope Is Not Buried

Enjoy a series of 6 exciting novels featuring historic disasters that transformed landscapes and multiple lives. Whether by nature or by man, these disasters changed history and were a day to be remembered.

Discipline and rules are the foundation on which Samantha Ingles has built her life—the life of a spinster schoolteacher in a small mining town in the Canadian Rockies. All that crumbles from her grasp when part of a mountain crashes down on their community.

Constable David Harty has little patience for the strict schoolmarm but has no choice but to leave his three young nieces in her care while he tries to discover the fate of his brother. Already, the girls have lost their mother and brothers to the landslide and require comfort and love while they await the fate of their father, possibly buried in the coal mine.

With the mountain looming over their heads threatening more lives, and the town scrambling to save who they can from the rubble, can hearts find healing—both for their own sakes and the children in their care?

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About the Author

To keep from freezing in the great white north, Angela K Couch cuddles under quilts with her laptop. Winning short story contests, being a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest, and a finalist in the 2016 International Digital Awards also helped warm her up. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in as well. When not writing, she stays fit (and toasty warm) by chasing after five munchkins.

More from Angela

Around 4:10 am on April 29th, 1903, approximately 110 million metric tonnes of limestone broke from the side of Turtle Mountain and crashed down into the Crowsnest Valley, burying ranches, camps, an active coal mine, and a part of the town of Frank. What has come to be known as “Frank Slide” was the deadliest landslide in North American recorded history, claiming the lives of more than seventy people.

I first visited Frank Slide as a child, as it is located only an hour’s drive from my home. All I remember from that experience was the heaps of rocks and boulders, and the story of the mine-horse named Charlie. When driving through the Crowsnest Pass as an adult, I began to appreciate the terror of that night and the horrible loss of life. Not until expanding my research while writing this story, did the miracles of Frank shine through everything horrible that happened. That became the focus of my story, When the Mountain Crumbled.

I find our own lives follow a similar pattern. Tragedy, hardship, sickness and disappointment… but do we see the miracles?

MY REVIEW

A gripping story about the destruction of a town where many lives were lost sets the stage for miracles, budding relationships and hope. Oh how hard it was to read how a town is wiped out by a mountain that threatens to destroy everything in its path. You can hear the rumblings as the chaos starts. Homes are destroyed and people are trapped beneath the places they called home.

Samantha is the school teacher for the little town. She is not very well liked and some call her unkind names. She does have a desire to teach but not everyone thinks children should be at school all the time. When tragedy happens she finds herself trapped in the home she shared with a family. She can hear the screams of the children in another part of the house. Her life will never be the same as she is finally rescued. Her heart breaks for the ones who didn’t make it.

Constable Nathan comes to town to see if his brother and family survived. To his dismay all that is left is his three nieces. It is hard for him to believe his brother didn’t make it out of the mine. When Nathan sees Samantha caring for his nieces he hopes they can help each other out. It is quickly evident that Samantha isn’t quite the nurturing type but he needs her help with the children.

The story is very emotional and the loss of lives overwhelming. I was heartbroken when those precious girls were left without parents. Nathan is trying so hard to help and Samantha is doing what she can. When a misunderstanding makes Nathan ask Samantha to leave, I knew it was out of hurt. He longs to give his nieces a home yet he doesn’t feel equipped. When Samantha finally opens up and shares her past with Nathan he starts to see the pain in her eyes. Discovering that they both are hurting in similar ways brings them closer. I liked how they learned that they both are looking for a place to belong, a family of their own and love that will last a lifetime.

The ending is so wonderful yet brought me to tears. Through everything they have gone through Samantha says, ‘I’m grateful for the good that God had brought about from something so horrible.” “If not for the bad, how would they recognize or appreciate the good.”

Don’t miss the author notes at the end of the book. It gives historical facts of the deadliest landslide in North American recorded history, claiming the lives of more than seventy people. I had no idea this happened but now after reading the story I understand how God performed miracles that day.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.