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A Thorne Witch Novel #2
Hexborn
Witch by birth, warlock by trade.
Adeline Thorne is a witch. The magic living inside her is not. And time isn’t on her side. The warlock magic coursing through her veins is volatile, incompatible with her witch blood, and growing more unstable by the day. Witches don’t trust her. Warlocks fear her.
Except for one. Luke Churchwell is a powerful warlock who wants to help her master the magic threatening to destroy her. But Adeline's failing health makes every lesson a gamble, and his desire for her may take them both down.
Far beyond the city, the hexborn, a secretive magical race, are tracking a killer. Their guide: a young girl’s terrifying psychic visions. And the trail leads straight to Adeline. When the hexborn and Adeline collide, they discover a chilling truth: a lone hunter with extraordinary power has been unleashed upon Adeline by someone determined to see her dead.
Time is running out. The hunter is closing in. And the only thing more dangerous than the enemy at her door is the rogue guild that created him.
Adeline Thorne is a witch. The magic living inside her is not. And time isn’t on her side. The warlock magic coursing through her veins is volatile, incompatible with her witch blood, and growing more unstable by the day. Witches don’t trust her. Warlocks fear her.
Except for one. Luke Churchwell is a powerful warlock who wants to help her master the magic threatening to destroy her. But Adeline's failing health makes every lesson a gamble, and his desire for her may take them both down.
Far beyond the city, the hexborn, a secretive magical race, are tracking a killer. Their guide: a young girl’s terrifying psychic visions. And the trail leads straight to Adeline. When the hexborn and Adeline collide, they discover a chilling truth: a lone hunter with extraordinary power has been unleashed upon Adeline by someone determined to see her dead.
Time is running out. The hunter is closing in. And the only thing more dangerous than the enemy at her door is the rogue guild that created him.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 4, 2026
About the author
J.P. McLean
15 books85 followersWelcome to my Goodreads page.
I'm very fortunate to live in a writer's paradise on one of the small northern Gulf Islands off the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The rugged beaches and towering fir and arbutus trees that surround me often end up in my stories. When I'm not pouring my imagination into my computer, I'm futzing in gardens, making a mess of the kitchen or hiking local trails. I write stories that entice you to believe the impossible and escape the everyday for a while. Enjoy the read!
I'm also on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/JPMcLeanBooks
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 20, 2026
The “Mistress of Complications” returns with a meticulously plotted urban fantasy/supernatural thriller. Its hallmark, an intricate web of magical systems and relationships in a well-developed fantastical world. Yet at its heart, it’s about people we care about, how they live, love, and survive the forces of evil who would see them destroyed.
In this sequel to The Never Witch, JP McLean offers an ingenious illustration of the dangers of xenophobia. Two interwoven subplots converge at the climax in an epic battle to destroy a near-unstoppable assassin whose goal is to annihilate the Hexborn. That’s what this group of young soldiers call themselves. Others call them cursed. They are mixed blood, carrying the DNA of both witches and warlocks and persecuted by both, who fear their power. The Hexborn work like an intelligence team. They are the hunted hunting the hunter—their mission to execute this “killing machine.”
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, the sparks between Adeline (a magically barren witch carrying warlock magic) and Luke (a sexy warlock determined to teach her how to control her magic while winning her heart) explode into a fiery romance. The couple can now communicate telepathically and spend hours at his nature sanctuary where Adeline learns to draw her power from trees and hold it in check as Luke tests her. Adeline and Luke are two of the narrators. The third is Mia.
One of the leaders of the Hexborn, Mia is tasked with protecting Alice, a twelve-year-old telepath tied to the hunter’s signet ring. Alice leads the group across Canada as they pursue this monster who’s murdering innocent families. Adeline can not only hear Luke, she can hear Alice, and this is how the two entities converge to join forces against the hunter.
McLean transforms Vancouver into a magical underworld reminiscent of the Harry Potter stories. Gastown’s Arcane Alley “oozed a quiet menace aimed at non-magicals. Anyone who resisted their influence would find themselves in an empty alley with an overwhelming compulsion to leave.” Arcane Alley is where witches and warlocks go to buy supplies but here also “stolen artifacts, questionable potions, and magical tools of the trade—many fake—change hands.”
Adeline and her witchy sister, Sarah, are combing through archives at The Sanctuary, researching magically barren witches and telepathy as Adeline’s health declines. Having mixed magic is a dangerous and relatively unknown proposition. Could it kill her? Perhaps. The stakes are high.
Yet, there are moments to sink into the lushness of nature, the excitement of love, the tastes and textures of food, and to chuckle at Zane’s snarky t-shirts: “I didn’t mean to push your buttons. I was just looking for mute.”
Fans of Deborah Harkness (The Discovery of Witches) will appreciate McLean’s multi-faceted magical universe where a desire for the freedom to live pushes against cultural transgressions, rules, and prohibitions in an effort to alter the status quo.
McLean’s imagination is at its peak; her writing cinematic and sensory, fuelled by relentless action and sustained with tension and intensity. This is her third supernatural fantasy thriller series. She’s been the recipient of numerous honours for her Dark Dreams series and her six-book Gift Legacy series. Among them: an Eric Hoffer, CIBA and National Indie Excellence Awards, the UK Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and the Whistler independent Book Awards. McLean lives on Denman Island and is a favourite at Vancouver Island markets and festivals.
Review from The Ottawa Review of Books, October 2026
In this sequel to The Never Witch, JP McLean offers an ingenious illustration of the dangers of xenophobia. Two interwoven subplots converge at the climax in an epic battle to destroy a near-unstoppable assassin whose goal is to annihilate the Hexborn. That’s what this group of young soldiers call themselves. Others call them cursed. They are mixed blood, carrying the DNA of both witches and warlocks and persecuted by both, who fear their power. The Hexborn work like an intelligence team. They are the hunted hunting the hunter—their mission to execute this “killing machine.”
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, the sparks between Adeline (a magically barren witch carrying warlock magic) and Luke (a sexy warlock determined to teach her how to control her magic while winning her heart) explode into a fiery romance. The couple can now communicate telepathically and spend hours at his nature sanctuary where Adeline learns to draw her power from trees and hold it in check as Luke tests her. Adeline and Luke are two of the narrators. The third is Mia.
One of the leaders of the Hexborn, Mia is tasked with protecting Alice, a twelve-year-old telepath tied to the hunter’s signet ring. Alice leads the group across Canada as they pursue this monster who’s murdering innocent families. Adeline can not only hear Luke, she can hear Alice, and this is how the two entities converge to join forces against the hunter.
McLean transforms Vancouver into a magical underworld reminiscent of the Harry Potter stories. Gastown’s Arcane Alley “oozed a quiet menace aimed at non-magicals. Anyone who resisted their influence would find themselves in an empty alley with an overwhelming compulsion to leave.” Arcane Alley is where witches and warlocks go to buy supplies but here also “stolen artifacts, questionable potions, and magical tools of the trade—many fake—change hands.”
Adeline and her witchy sister, Sarah, are combing through archives at The Sanctuary, researching magically barren witches and telepathy as Adeline’s health declines. Having mixed magic is a dangerous and relatively unknown proposition. Could it kill her? Perhaps. The stakes are high.
Yet, there are moments to sink into the lushness of nature, the excitement of love, the tastes and textures of food, and to chuckle at Zane’s snarky t-shirts: “I didn’t mean to push your buttons. I was just looking for mute.”
Fans of Deborah Harkness (The Discovery of Witches) will appreciate McLean’s multi-faceted magical universe where a desire for the freedom to live pushes against cultural transgressions, rules, and prohibitions in an effort to alter the status quo.
McLean’s imagination is at its peak; her writing cinematic and sensory, fuelled by relentless action and sustained with tension and intensity. This is her third supernatural fantasy thriller series. She’s been the recipient of numerous honours for her Dark Dreams series and her six-book Gift Legacy series. Among them: an Eric Hoffer, CIBA and National Indie Excellence Awards, the UK Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and the Whistler independent Book Awards. McLean lives on Denman Island and is a favourite at Vancouver Island markets and festivals.
Review from The Ottawa Review of Books, October 2026
August 4, 2026
The magic could still kill her.
Adeline Thorne has learned that the warlock magic inside her will kill her if her witch magic finally decides to come forward, ant that the warlock magic is becoming more volatile. Other witches are pretty much shunning her and the warlocks are distrustful, and even afraid. The only person actively trying to help her is Luke Churchwell, a powerful warlock rune caster, one time friend to the warlock responsible for her predicament, and the only one trying to teach her to control the magic. Unfortunately, the danger to Adeline is even more devastating than they expected when Adeline and Luke meet a powerful group of magic users who call themselves hexborn. They are tracking an assassin who, unbeknownst to Luke and Adeline, is hunting her because she is a witch wielding warlock magic.
Wonderful characters that are well written and have complex personalities. I love Adeline, her determination to survive, and the fact that even with her minimal training she "thinks outside the box" and manages to produce magic much more powerful than anyone expected. Magic, witches, warlocks, magical battles, and surprising twists made it impossible to put down this steamy romantic fantasy. I think this is a must-read.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary ARC provided by Hidden Gems.
Adeline Thorne has learned that the warlock magic inside her will kill her if her witch magic finally decides to come forward, ant that the warlock magic is becoming more volatile. Other witches are pretty much shunning her and the warlocks are distrustful, and even afraid. The only person actively trying to help her is Luke Churchwell, a powerful warlock rune caster, one time friend to the warlock responsible for her predicament, and the only one trying to teach her to control the magic. Unfortunately, the danger to Adeline is even more devastating than they expected when Adeline and Luke meet a powerful group of magic users who call themselves hexborn. They are tracking an assassin who, unbeknownst to Luke and Adeline, is hunting her because she is a witch wielding warlock magic.
Wonderful characters that are well written and have complex personalities. I love Adeline, her determination to survive, and the fact that even with her minimal training she "thinks outside the box" and manages to produce magic much more powerful than anyone expected. Magic, witches, warlocks, magical battles, and surprising twists made it impossible to put down this steamy romantic fantasy. I think this is a must-read.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary ARC provided by Hidden Gems.
Review of advance copy
‘Hexborn’ picks up roughly 3 months after the events of ‘The Never Witch’ and we find Adeline experiencing some instability in her acquired warlock magic as new abilities begin to manifest. We are introduced to the hexborn – a group of secretive individuals possessing a variety of mixed magical powers. Two storylines play out simultaneously, until merging when the hexborn and Adeline, Luke and their friends join forces against a powerful common enemy – the hunter.
This well written urban fantasy is told via third person POV. There’s action, magic, danger, suspense, violence, and some sex – but no graphic details. I’m already looking forward to returning to this entertaining world.
I received an ARC of this book from Hidden Gems, and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
This well written urban fantasy is told via third person POV. There’s action, magic, danger, suspense, violence, and some sex – but no graphic details. I’m already looking forward to returning to this entertaining world.
I received an ARC of this book from Hidden Gems, and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
Review of advance copy
I was honestly happy to be back with Adeline, Luke, and everyone else. I had been looking forward to book two!
There was a lot going on with Adeline’s magic this time, and I really liked getting more of the Hexborn and learning how they fit into everything. There was also enough happening with the story that I stayed interested the whole way through. It was really easy to get back into this world!
Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC!
There was a lot going on with Adeline’s magic this time, and I really liked getting more of the Hexborn and learning how they fit into everything. There was also enough happening with the story that I stayed interested the whole way through. It was really easy to get back into this world!
Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews