A Day to Remember is such a great series, and WHEN THE MOUNTAINS CRUMBLED is a terrific new addition. The author does a wonderful job at bringing the 1903 landslide to life as well as the setting in the Canadian Rockies. I was a little surprised at the romance focus, although I suppose I shouldn't have been. Samantha and Nathan are enjoyable characters, and their developing relationship seems relatable, especially as they try to do what's best for the girls. The novel explores the many hardships encountered during the aftermath of the disaster. I adored how Nathan kept a notebook where he jotted down instances of God's divine providence.

I also want to note the novel's shorter than average length, which I loved. So many novels have unnecessary padding or filler; this one chugs right along at a nice pace. The length feels just right for the story.

I received an advance e-galley from Barbour Publishing via NetGalley; all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

This fourth book in Barbour Publishing's A Day to Remember series is just as wonderful as its predecessors. Each book tells an account of fictional characters set within the very real events of a North American disaster. The books are well-researched and closely based on actual occurrences. When the Mountain Crumbled is set beginning in April of 1903 in the Crowsnest Valley in Alberta, Canada. It was around 4:10 a.m. on the 29th of the month when millions of tons of limestone broke off from the side of Turtle Mountain and crashed into the town of Frank, killing more than seventy people. Couch based her characters' experiences on those of real-life people residing in Frank at that time. Samantha, her main character, is a schoolteacher who assumes the care of three sisters after the death of their parents and brothers, eventually sharing the responsibility with the girls' Uncle Nathan, a mounted police officer. The schoolmarm and the Mountie rarely agree on what is best for the girls which leads to a growing sense of tension.

Couch treats the victims of this natural disaster with respect and sensitivity as she develops a story that reveals the impact one's past may have on the lens through which they view the present, and also explores the presence of God in the midst of disaster. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of When the Mountain Crumbled from Barbour Publishing via NetGalley without obligation, and feel comfortable recommending it to other fans of historical fiction. All opinions expressed here are my own.

When the Mountain Crumbled by Angela K. Couch
I have been given the opportunity to review an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and Netgalley. This is the fouth of five books in their “A Day to Remember” series.
This book is set in the early 1900’s and is based on an actual event and an actual town. The town of Frank was a mining town situated in the Canadian Rockies. The mudslide disaster really happened.
Samantha has been hired as the school teacher for the town. She is the typical stereotype “schoolmarm” and takes education very seriously. She boards with the family of some of her students when the disaster strikes. Their home is buried under the rocks and only Samantha and three daughters survive. She is left with their care until other family members can be found.
Nathan is a Mountie and also the uncle of the surviving children. He makes it his mission to try to locate his brother and family. When he does, he enlists Samantha’s help until he can make other arrangements. They develop a common bond caring for the girls and their shared faith draws them closer.
Nathan’s siblings arrive and plan to take charge of the children but plan to divide them amongst each other. Nathan, being single, is deemed to be not appropriate to adopt them. He and Samantha must work together to ensure the girls are together and loved.
This is a well written story, often sad but there are many happy moments showing that happiness can come out of devastating circumstances. The dialog is engaging and easy to follow.
Faith plays an important role in many of the characters lives. Samantah and Nathan share a deep faith that grows deeper as the story develops.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the publisher through Netgalley and their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.

5 stars, Horrific Natural Disaster

WHEN THE MOUNTAIN CRUMBLED (A DAY TO REMEMBER SERIES BOOK 4)
by Angela K. Couch

Canada, 1903

Samantha Ingles is a schoolteacher in the small town of Frank, the home of a coal mine. She lives with the family of several of her students. They are caught in a devastating landslide in their mountain town. Samantha hasn't been trained to deal with deadly natural disasters. She's stuck.

Constable Nathan Stanford is a member of the North-West Mounted Police. He is awakened by a deep rumble. He wants to go investigate what it was. It sounded like it came from the west, possibly near where his brother works and lives with his family in Frank.

These two people are thrown together and are trying to make sense of the horrific natural disaster that swallowed most of the town of Frank.

Day to Remember is a series that is about historic disasters that affected a lot of people. Some of the disasters were manmade and some occurred naturally. Some you may have heard of, others you may not have. This series of six books brings them forward, so all who reads them can remember.

I have been in historic mines, I would be terrified if a mountain I was in crumbled around me. The location of Frank is only an hour's drive from the author's home.

Highly recommend.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of #whenthemountaincrumbled of the #adaytorememberseries from #barbourbooks #barbourfiction I was not obligated to post a review.

#miningdisasters #Mounties #Canada #schoolmarm #1903 #ChristianFiction #inspirational #historicalfiction #AngelaKCouch #bingedbook

Book 4 of 6 - A fictional story based on the landslide in Alberta, Canada in 1903. A lot of feelings and family life. A great story! The other books in the series tell of other historical events. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. This review is my feelings towards the book.

It is April 28, 1903, Samantha Ingles is visiting with the family she is boarding with, the Stanfords are coming back home after an all day picnic and they are all so happy and excited - little do they know that night all their lives will change!
Samantha lays down and she is jolted awake as the ground shakes and her bed overturns and she feels pain in her head, she can't breathe and a beam crashes down over her!
The town has been decimated by a landslide, almost every family has lost a loved one, Samantha goes to the hospital and sees Abby, Mary and Lucy, the Stanford girls and she takes them to the local hotel.
Nathan Stanford a Canadian Mountie hears the avalanche and fears for his brother Peter and his family-what will he find?

These historical fiction books are fascinating to me as another piece of history is now brought to life in a story. I never knew about the Frank slide and the devastation that it caused.



I found that I enjoyed Mary, Abby and Lucy the most as characters. My favorite part of the book was that Nathan kept a list of all of the miracles that he saw.



Thanks to netgalley and Barbour Publishing for the arc. The opinions are my own. In accordance with the publisher, this book will be posted on my blog and netgalley not more than 30 days prior to publication day.

Took a little while to warm up to the characters, but once I was into it, this was a compelling, heart-wrenching story of tragedy, dealing with your past, finding hope, and family. Based on an actual event, and many of the characters based on actual survivors of the Frank Slide of 1903, this definitely gave me a sense of place, and how terrifying the event must have been, with an enemies-to-lovers storyline.

As historical fiction, this is a really good book. If you like an enemies to lovers-type romance, you will like this book! That part was not exactly to my taste, but I know it is to many!! It is a well-written book overall. This is a natural disaster I had never heard about, and I am always happy to learn new things.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book! All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

"A hundred seconds and the world changed."
On April 29, 1903, the south peak of Turtle Mountain in the town of Frank, near Calgary in Canada, broke away devastating the small town. When the Mountain Crumbled, is a fictionalized account of that terrible event that took the lives of seventy to ninety citizens.
I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from Barbour Publishing through NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion about the story. This fourth book in the Day to Remember series is another riveting read. Can you imagine being buried alive in a home during the night? You can hear the cries of others who are equally terrified, perhaps in pain. School teacher Samantha Ingles is staying with a family, sleeping in an upper area of the home, when she is awakened to a nightmare sound that changes her life.
Canadian Mountie, Constable Nathan Stanford learns that a tragedy is taking place in a neighboring area, the town where his brother and family live, and requests to go there. He has no idea what he is going to find.
Author Andrea K. Couch made this story feel real to me. I can't imagine going through a natural disaster like this. Waking up to learn that children you teach at school and their families are gone. This is an awful event that I had never heard of. There is sadness and despair, but it is not a graphic depiction. It is written in good taste. I like the two main characters and how their lives lead them to this time, to people who need them. Samantha has experienced her own trials and has survived the best way possible, giving the impression that she is unfeeling and cold. Nathan's past with his family creates challenges and regrets as he moves forward. I love that he was able to find miracles in the heartbreak of each day. That in itself can be a lesson for the reader.
This book is a five-star read for me. There is beauty in this story.

The author pens a gripping account of the tragedy of April 29, 1903 in the Canadian Rockies when the town of Frank was buried in a rockslide. Most of the characters were based on real people and the author imagined what their lives were like. The hero was Nathan, a Royal North West Mounted Police officer who came to town to search for his brother and family. But he finds that only his three nieces have survived. Samantha, the teache who boarded with them is asked to help care for the girls.
The story realistically tells of the practical and emotional hardships encountered during the aftermath of the incident. After questioning how such a thing could have happened, Nathan begins to write the miracles in a notebook, showing that God provided protection and provision. With the three little girls being separated and sent to live with different brothers, Nathan seeks a solution to reunite them. But there are hurts to overcome and spiritual growth to be accomplished.
Another heartfelt telling of an interesting event in the series: A Day To Remember.
*A complimentary copy was provided by Barbour Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions are mine alone.*

Hard to read at times but so worth it. A real event in history, real people and all woven together into a fictional romance between a school teacher and a Canadian Mountie. I didn't like Samantha at first but the tragedy changed her into who she really was inside underneath the exterior of her strict schoolmarm persona. Nathan was a true hero, assisting in rescue efforts even when suddenly being responsible for three nieces he did not know well. Both Samantha and Nathan had to confront their pasts before they could move ahead into the future with hearts open to each other and a God ordained love they never would have chosen under normal circumstances. I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to leave a review.

I have been enjoying the books in the series, A Day to Remember. Each book stands alone, telling a story about a different disaster, but each one is memorable. I had the privilege, this week, of reading an advance copy of When the Mountain Crumbled, the newest book in the series.

I had never heard of the landslide in western Canada that covered most of a town and a couple of ranches in 1903. The historical part of this story fascinated me. I have seen many landslides (called slips in my country!) and stood in awe at the destruction caused by them. To have one so huge that it covered ranches, camps, and part of a town, and killed more than 70 people is almost unimaginable. Having experienced several earthquakes, I could well imagine how the survivors felt about going back to the scene of the destruction, and the fear they had to work through in the days and weeks following the disaster.
I also really liked the exploration of grief and how Samantha learned to work through it and help others. Different people in When the Mountain Crumbled responded to loss and trauma in different ways. One person had to come to the realization that stuffing grief down and denying it, “moving on” before acknowledging and grieving her loss, had crippled her. The story shows her learning to allow herself to love and care for others.
I would have preferred if the story had had less romance in it. By the time I read the second chapter I had identified the love interests and knew what the ending of the story would be. The main focus of the story felt like it was to get the two main characters married. Personally, I prefer books in which that is a secondary focus. As I said earlier, though, there was a lot I loved about this book, so if you enjoy romance with a lot of food for thought thrown in along with some obscure history, this is the book for you!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

Disaster on Turtle Mountain
When the Mountain Crumbled is such a tragic true story. The author has created this historical novel based on the details from the disaster. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. She did an excellent job of weaving fact and fiction and kept my attention throughout. Details of the true story are at the end of the book.

Turtle Mountain actually gave way on April 28, 1903 in Western Canada and destroyed part of Frank, the town at the bottom, killing many people. Some families were all killed where others were split apart with some dead and others survived. Samantha, the local school teacher lived with a family where the only survivors were three young girls. The parents and brothers all died. Her main thought was to keep Mary, Abby and baby Lucy together.

Canadian Mounted Policeman Nathan Stanford learns of the tragedy where his brother Peter and his family live. He has no idea what he will find when he gets there. Samantha's and Nathan's first meeting was not too friendly, but they joined forces to save the three little girls.

Historical fiction readers will enjoy this book. I received a complimentary digital copy from Barbour Publishing and Net Galley and was under no obligation to post a positive review.

DNF read.

The event behind this book--the tragic mudslide--was heartbreaking and sad! As with the other books to date in the series, it brought to life an event I'd not heard about beforehand, and I was intrigued.

I didn't particularly connect with either of the MCs, more so Nathan--especially how he let the community's general (negative) consensus of Samantha color his own opinion of her for a good chunk of the book portion I did read. I also found the writing style overly descriptive and too heavy handed in its explicit use of simile; I'd have preferred to infer my own mental similes as I read, being shown instead of told.

The series has been hit or miss so far for me; I loved the first book, but didn't care for the second or third. As this one was also a miss for me, I'll probably forego reading the last two (but may change my mind depending on the author).

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

** “You were not alone. Be still, and know that I am God.” **

Angela K. Couch adds another exciting addition to the “A Day to Remember” series — a fictionalized series about actual horrific historical events — with “When the Mountain Crumbled.”

On April 28, 1903, in Western Canada, a devastating landslide occurs on Turtle Mountain. Waking up frontier teacher Samantha Ingles, she realizes she has survived, along with the three daughters of the family with which she boards. The rest have tragically died. But even though she has suffered a bad ankle injury, the stiff-upper-lip Samantha with very little motherly tendencies does her best to keep Mary, Abby and Lucy together.

Nearby, North-West Mounted Police Constable Nathan Stanford learns of the tragic landslide in the town of Frank, where his brother Peter lives with his family. As he races to find them, he doesn’t know what kind of tragedy and devastation faces him.

As Samantha’s and Nathan’s paths cross, can they get over their pre-conceived notions of each other and work to save the three little girls. And can they overcome their own past traumas and disappointments to deal with the tragedy?

Couch does a great job of bringing an historical tragedy to life, intertwining real characters who experienced the landslide, as well as new characters like Samantha and Nathan to personalize it. She expertly fills the story with drama, misunderstandings and simmering romance. And she also fills “When the Mountain Crumbled” with several great themes, like denial and hope (“Denial liked to linger at the beginning, threatening you with hope when there was none”); God is in the details; dealing with grief; stuffing down feelings; not wanting to burden others; wanting to belong; and how can one balance tragedy with miracle.

Fans of historical fiction and stories about overcoming tragedy will love “When the Mountain Crumbled,” which is due out Sept. 1.

Five stars out of five.

Barbour Fiction provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

A well written book about a landslide that happened in Canada. I have never heard of this event before and it was so interesting to read how the characters handled the tragedy and made me wonder how I would have reacted. Highly recommend! Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. The opinion expressed is entirely my own.

On April 28, 1903 in W. Canada, Samantha Ingles, a teacher in a mining town in Crowsnest Pass, has disciplined herself to strict standards & has also built an emotional wall around herself to protect her emotions & feelings. After a mountain tumbles down & destroys most of the community & many of the people in it, Constable Harty ends up leaving his 3 orphaned nieces with the school teacher while he helps with the rescue effort, as well as search for his brother that was caught in the worst of the damage. They are all in desperate need of healing. Follow their story and discover if they can let go of the emotional walls they have created and begin again. When the Mountain Crumbled, by Angela K. Couch, is Volume 4 of the A Day to Remember series. It is very well written, you feel like you lived it. I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Barbour Publishing & was under no obligation to post a review.

“Whatever else came, she hoped they could always see God’s intervention on their behalf, no matter how slight it might seem.”

While a series dealing with historic and tragic events can be difficult to read, each novel in Barbour’s A Day to Remember series has its highly uplifting and hope-filled messages. This book tugged at the heart strings not only for the tragic landslide that occurred, but for the two souls, Samantha and Nathan, each dealing with their own personal and deep wounds which were gradually revealed as the story moved along. I had never heard of this landslide before and thought the author created a realistic and believable depiction of events. What made it so engrossing for me were the numerous mentions of miracles and God’s provision over such a terrible event. I loved the journal Nathan wrote in which not only kept his own faith grounded but ultimately helped lead another to faith. I couldn’t help but feel for the three orphaned sisters and their plight and hoped for things to work out for their best interests. Such a heart wrenching yet hope-filled and inspiring book!

I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher. A positive review was not required and these are my own and honest opinions.

This newest book in Barbour’s Day to Remember series that focuses on historical natural disasters looks at a devastating mountain landslide that crushed a small mining town in the Canadian Rockies in the early 1900’s. The historical information is woven in the engaging story of a young school teacher, the family she was boarding with and the children’s Constable Uncle as they struggle to survive and reconcile faith with such horrific disaster. As with the other stories in this series the historical event presents unimaginably difficult circumstances but the story is well written and an enjoyable read.
Thank you to Net Galley and Barbour Publishing for the opportunity to read for my honest review.