White Witch

By Trish Milburn

"Fresh, fun, and dangerous! I can't wait for the next one!" -Sherrilyn Kenyon #1 NYT Bestselling Author of the Dark-Hunter Series



Witchcraft Is Her Family's Business.

No One Quits The Family And Lives To Tell About It.



"Jax" Pherson has power, enough power to know her future will end in service to the dark coven her father controls. Unless she can stay hidden in a small community in the mountains of North Carolina. She must find a way to live without magic and deny the darkness she feels welling up inside her--the same dark power that fuels the covens around the world.



All she wants is a normal life. A boyfriend. Friends. Some place to belong, but all too soon Jax's barely begun new life hangs in the balance when she discovers that the boy she's attracted to is sworn to kill her kind. He's a hunter with good reason to kill everything that goes bump in the night.



Even the most fleeting use of her power is tantamount to signing her death warrant and will bring both hunter and coven down on her. But can she walk away when her friends are threatened by an old evil? Something created by the magic of witches? Jax's only hope of survival is to convince the boy she loves to forget everything he's ever been taught and help her find a way to fight the covens. To believe there is some good in her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BelleBooks
• Release date: Feb 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781611941111

Trish Milburn

Trish Milburn is a freelance journalist, lives in the South, and is a big fan of the outdoors and U.S. National Parks. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, nature photography, reading, traveling, watching TV or movies, and surfing the Web. She's also a big geek girl, including being a Browncoat and a Whovian, and has been known to cosplay at Dragon*Con.

Book preview

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Reviews for White Witch

[richhayes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher, all that was asked was an honest review.Jaxina Pherson, aka Jax Taylor just wants to live a simple teenage girls life. Have friends, maybe a boyfriend, go to school and dances and things like that but she has one problem. She is a witch, on the run from the dark coven ran by her father. A coven that wants her dead for running away.As she is on a walk by her RV in Baker Gap, NC, where she has decided to hid out, a truck stops on the road by where she is resting and out steps a teen boy with a gun and a bloodstone. A stone that shows supernatural presents such as her. When she gets enrolled into school she meets Toni, a girls that wears tee-shirts centered on Buffy The Vampire killer and the like. A girl who becomes her best friend. Later the sees the boy and feels a spark for him, finds out his name is Keller Dawes, is Toni's cousin and also a hunter. A person who hunts and kills supernaturals like her. The story follows her as she tries to make a normal life, see if she and Keller can be boyfriend/girlfriend and hangs with Toni. To add to the mix, Egan, a male witch shows up, he is also on the run from his coven and has traced Jax but he has also brought "The Beginning Book", a book that shows how witches gained their power and hopefully can show how he and Jax can defeat their covens and stay alive. One problem, a page is missing. Is it important or not? Later as Jax's family finds her, can she and Egan fight them, save their friends or even stay alive. If I found one thing wrong with the book is the fact that while it is Book One of a series, I didn't want it to end. I wanted to know more. Luckily Book Two is already out and I will be reading and reviewing it next.

[sar450 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love the mystery of what Jax's abilities are and learning more about her as she does herself. Add in there the "how will this ever work out?" feelings of the boy she feels so strongly for, and some other twists, and they added up to a book I could not put down!This book was well written, making it suitable for teens and adults alike in my opinion. I was very excited to move onto the second book in the series :)I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[vanyadrum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is yet another book I got from Netgalley to review. I got drawn by the cover and description, because the coven thing really gets to me as fiction reading. Anyway, I liked the story, but the characters were very shallow. There was only kissing and fear and that's about it.

So this is the story of 16-year old Jax who escaped her power-thirsty witch coven in the hopes that they won't ever find her. Because they're dark and deadly. They're murderers. And all she wants is to be normal. Well, that's not exactly on the list. She escapes her family, only to stumble upon hunters, dark powers and love that could take away her powers forever.

I think that there were extensive descriptions and inner dialogue when there shouldn't have been. It felt like Jax was mostly talking to herself than looking outside of herself. There was so much telling, that the showing kind of got disregarded. Still, I liked the zing of her inner voice, although at times it felt overdone.

What I really didn't like was the abundance of misspellings and all sorts of grammar mistakes. There were repetitive substitutions (ex. attack for attic), words that didn't mean what they were supposed to, and basic misspellings (blonde for blond).

It kind of felt like a teenager wrote the book without the consecutive help of an editor. The book has potential and could be improved, but it might be a little late for that.

The characters:

*Jax - she was supposed to be the strong one, even though the fear of her coven was supposed to somehow make her weak. Well, in truth, she was strong, but she was also uncontrolled, and that fear didn't quite get through to me. I read it almost at every page, but it was just that, a word on a page.

*Keller - was his name supposed to give the reader an association with, say, 'killer'? Because it would totally fit, even though the guy didn't really kill anything. He was supposed to be a supernatural hunter, yet we never saw that part of him and I think we should have. There was just a vague mention of it, and a scene that could've been developed well, but wasn't. The guy only wanted to kiss and cuddle once he got over his scruples that hey - Jax is a witch!

*Egan - I think he was the most down-to-earth person in this whole novel. He knew when to get dragged in and when to pull himself out. But hearing how swoon worthy he was didn't really make him so.

I don't think I'd be eager to read the next installment, but then again, the author might have improved her writing by then, so we shall see.

[bookworm_lisa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jax is running and hiding from her powerful witch family. She knows that if they catch her she will die. They want power and revenge. They will do anything to keep their power and will kill to keep it.She wants to have a normal teen life. She wants to date, have friends, go to school, do all the things other 16 year olds are doing.She finds a small town, parks her trailer and enrolls in school. She makes a best friend and falls in love with Keller. The only problem is that he is a hunter of paranormal creatures like her.I was caught up in the story of Jax and what would happen to her next. She is a very spunky girl with a great head on her shoulders. She has a strong sense of what she wants in life, and knows that she doesn't want to follow in the evil traditions of her coven.The book flows at a quick pace and keeps interest. There is quite a bit of kissing, that would be the only caution I would have for younger teens.

[jwitt33 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Witchcraft Is Her Family's Business.No One Quits The Family And Lives To Tell About It."When I read this description, I couldn't wait to read this book. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. Jax is a witch who wants to live a normal life, and since she can't do that in her coven (because they are straight up evil), she runs away. She goes to a small town up in the mountains of North Carolina, after leaving a false trail for her family to follow, because she knows that they won't let her just leave. She enrolls herself in high school and immediately meets Keller, a supernatural hunter. Here's where I have my first problem with this book - the dreaded instalove. Within a few days of meeting, they are inseparable and are falling in love. This is a pet peeve of mine, I'll admit. The characters (including Toni, Keller's cousin and Jax's new best friend) are likeable, but I would have liked a bit more time to get to know them before they started in on their romance. It made the story feel rushed. When the book deals with the supernatural aspects of the story, it was really enjoyable, but I had a hard time getting past the all consuming romance between Jax and Keller that really didn't make any sense because again, it was just too rushed. The book was a quick read, though, because it moved so fast.In summary, I enjoyed the supernatural aspects of this book but can't say the same for the romantic aspects of it. I would be open to reading the next book in the series, though, to see if it fleshes out the characters more fully.3/5 stars.

[harkiquinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Based on an ARC Review:3.5 starsWhile I wasn't blown away by this book, the plot did hold my attention until the end.Jax has left her Witch Coven family and is trying to stay under the radar. That proves to be harder than she planned when a young witch hunter starts giving her special attention.This book was short and sweet, I finished it within a day. I hadn't read a witch book before and I thought this would be a good introduction. While the plot was mildly entertaining, it wasn't anything special. It flowed pretty well with its well placed plot twist but the overall plot was predictable and generic.I really liked Jax as a character, she was strong and interesting. I even liked Keller, what I liked most was watching him struggle with his witch hunter responsibilities while dating Jax. It made him seem more real. The love story, like most love stories, was rushed but I was never annoyed with the characters. I will say that I do not like the two supporting characters/best friends. I found their story to be very rushed and distracting.The book is told by Jax's perspective and is very simple. I think the writing style is what made this such a quick read as well.

[liezkl_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jax is a witch who wants to live a normal life. The only problem is that she knows her coven would kill her before they would let her leave, after all she watched her father murder her mother when she tried to leave.She plans for the day when she can make her move, and when the opportunity arises, she moves to an obscure little town, starts school, makes new friends and falls in love. All very normal, except that she is constantly on edge about the possibility of discovery by her new friends and her coven.I really enjoyed the book, it is well written and the story is fast paced and I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment.

[stacyatufi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jax is on the run from her family a group of very powerful Dark Witches. Jax wants nothing more then to live a normal life without using her power for bad things. She comes to realize that she cant hide forever and that she cant but her friends in harms way no matter how normal she wants to be. WHITE WITCH was a fast read but there are a few things I had issues with. The beginning felt rushed, there wasn't enough information given when things started happening they just happen and bam your on to the next scene. Even though there were some action moments they to were rushed. It got confusing and I lost where in the moment I was multiple times because it was on fast forward it seemed. The timeline of Jax's relationship with Keller seemed a bit unrealistic at times, again things were rushed and put on fast forward. I really think the story would have benefited from a few more pages added to each chapter. I did enjoy the characters. They were well written and It was easy to get to know them. The ending definitely didn't leave the characters in a happy place like most books do. I wish it would have went on a little longer but it did leave me wanting to read the next book so that is a good thing. I wouldn't go out and buy this one but it wouldn't hurt to borrow a copy if you have the chance.

[rhonda1111 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Review White Witch by Trish Milburn 5 STARSDefinatly want more of this series. Its romance,good against evil, teenage drama. Kept my attention did not stop reading till done.Jax has runaway from her Florida home. Her plans are to go to school and stop using her power. She wants to be good and normal. If she uses too much power her family & coven will find her and kill her.Jax has been home schooled and her family is training her to come into full power when she is 17. Jax does not want to hurt others. Her first day in school she meets Toni and her cousin KellerKeller hunts the supernatural like Jax. If he or his father find out she is a witch they will try and kill her. Jax is beautiful all the witches are. She likes Keller and Keller likes her back.Their are a group of girls who are popular and treat Jax like she is dirt, even throws a softball at her.Keller has been hunting supernatural since he was young. His dad is a preacher. His uncle died hunting years ago.Toni is a drummer and friends Jax right away. She does not really date at all.Egan shows up at Jax's trailer and he let her know he feels the same about his coven as she does hers. Egan figured together they can be safer than a part. Egan has found a book that tells things a little different about them that their coven does not want them to know.I really liked White Witches. I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest reviews from Netgalley.03/01/2012 PUB BELL BRIDGE BOOKS

[bookaholiccat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3 ½ Stars

White Witch is the first book in the Coven Trilogy by Trish Milburn.

All witches are bad and use dark magic, they use their power to control and hurt humans, but Jax is different, she doesn’t want to use her dark power and hurt people, her only option to evade her future is to escape her family’s coven and do whatever is needed to avoid being caught by them. She knows if she is caught she is going to have the same fate her mother had, a slowly and painful death by her father’s hand.

After months of planing Jax is able to escape. Leaving fake trails to Alaska she settles in a little town in North Carolina. The only thing Jax wants is to go to school, have friends, maybe to date somebody, all in all just to have a normal life. Everything is going well until the day she runs into hunter while taking a walk in the forest, this guy is not any hunter, but one specialized in killing paranormal beings, those includes witches as Jax. Jax is able to escape him before he notices her but she is not that lucky during her first day at school when she runs into him, he is the cousin of her new best friend, Toni.
Jax knows the last thing she should be is attracted to a hunter but there is something about Kellar that is impossible for her to deny.
Jax will not have any problem passing as a normal girl if she doesn’t use her magic. The only telltales of her heritage are her unbelievable good looks, super strength and speed. She can’t change her looks but she can control what she does to pretend to be normal. Also under any circumstances she should use her magic, the moment she uses her power her family will be able to find her, using her power is like lighting a beacon light saying “I’m here”. But this is easier say than done, when somebody she cares is in danger she is forced to use her power to save him/her. Now her friends including Kellar know what she is and it’s a just matter of time for her family to show up and find her. The decision to be made is to stay put and fight for what she wants or leave before it’s too late for her and her new friends.

Despite the very stereotypical characters (the incredibly beautiful heroine, the dreamy hero, the funny and weird best friend, the mean and jealous queen bee of the school and the very evil father/villain) I can say I enjoyed White Witch. Even though I would have prefer and not so perfect heroine I liked Jax and is was easy to understand and to connect with her desire to be normal. Keller was nice, I liked that regardless of the “love at first sight” it took sometime for him to come to terms that Jax was a witch, that made him feel more real.
Toni is one of my favorite characters, she is strong, understanding and caring, she also brought the laughs to the story.

White Witch is a fast paced, fast read book with an interesting premise. There is not a dull moment in the story and the background story about the witch hunt in Salem made of the story a more engaging one. The end is not properly a cliffhanger but one that will leave you wanting to get your hands in the next installment (not yet release) of this series, Bane.

I would recommend this book to YA lovers who like witches and paranormal stories. White Witch was my first book by Mrs. Milburn; I’m looking forward to the end of this year for the release of the next installment, Bane.

[iris0boekenplank · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Originally reviewed at Witchmag's BoekenplankIt took some time for me to get into the story. At first it felt a bit distant and I had some trouble with connecting to the characters. The book and story didn’t stand out from all the other paranormal stories I’ve read. It felt more like been there, done that. Till mystery was added to the mix. A missing page in a centuries old important book. Which might or might not hold all the answers… From that moment on I was intrigued and I started to enjoy the bookJax and the rest of her friends felt a little on the thin “side” at first, they were flat. Therefore my connection problems. There was no real depth in the emotions they displayed. Especially from Jax I expected more, besides her daily anxiety for discovery, since she’s our main character. Besides the lack of heartfelt emotion I had also problems with the whole running away scheme. I know it’s not easy, running for your live and building a whole new existence somewhere else. But everything went too smooth, to the point that it made me skeptical (I know, maybe watched a bit too much movies, but still…). Fortunately later on everything changed for the better and was I fully connected to lively, full characters and a story where not everything went as Jax thought it would go.Talking about Jax, I really loved her honesty. When she arrived at the point where she could not hide her identity anymore, she didn’t postpone the inevitable, didn’t try to come up with excuses, but just told the truth. Even if it might be the end of her friendships. Cause who can be friends with the hunter, when you’re the one he hunts?The plot was nice too and it was not the usual story where someone transfers to a new school. No here we have a young girl running for her life. Only so she can be different, so she doesn’t succumb and gives in to the dark side (oooh Star Wars moment ;) ). It was amazing to see how thorough Jax had considered everything. Nothing was left to chance. Much attention was paid to the temptation of giving in, to become evil, to use her powers again. And Jax had to try to refuse, cause otherwise she would be found…. Throw a very handsome Hunter in the mix and some romance and I’m in.Conclusion3 HEARTS. A light and enjoyable story, once you’re able to get across the halfway point. Before I felt the characters a bit on the “flat” side and had some trouble with getting into the story. But from the moment when there’s some puzzle the solve, the real story finally began and I was genuinely glad that I kept reading. It did help that there was a cute hunter and an even cuter witch, with a not so common story and I was a happy reader.

[arthistorychick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Source: NetGalley4½ stars/5 starsI have pretty much always loved the paranormal genre but on my mental list of likes and dislikes, witches have always been toward the bottom of the list. However, over the last few years I have discovered that I am a bigger fan of witch and with-related books than I initially thought. Good thing I made this discovery because otherwise I might have bypassed Trish Milburn’s excellent first-in-a-series novel White Witch.Jax is a witch and I don’t mean this in the “I’m trying to clean up my potty mouth” kind of way. Jax really is a 16-year-old witch as well as a member of a very large and powerful coven based in Miami. Jax has known since the day her coven killed her mother in front of her that she doesn’t belong in her coven or any coven at all. Jax is more like her mother, a witch with a predisposition for white magic rather than black and absolutely no desire to kill or manipulate people so that her coven can become even wealthier and more powerful than they already are. But Jax also knows that leaving the coven is forbidden and any attempt to do so brings with it an instantaneous death warrant. Jax doesn’t care; she has to get out and so she runs.Settling in Baker Gap, North Carolina is about as normal as a girl can get; especially a girl who is on the run and desperately hoping she can hide her presence from her family and the local paranormal hunters. The hunters aren’t nearly as cheesy as that last sentence makes them sound. Using only the tiniest bit of her considerable power, Jax manages to get herself enrolled in the local high school, secures a place to live, and even begins to make some new friends. Although Jax is always cautious and alert she enjoys her new freedom and the new life she is trying to make for herself. But, as you might expect, White Witch just wouldn’t be a great or even good read without some serious drama. Here’s the drama:1)Keller: super-hot high school hunter that Jax knows she shouldn’t become involved with but just can’t seem to help herself.2)Egan: an old friend from another powerful coven who, like Jax has flown the coup and has shown up on Jax’s doorstep.3)The Beginning Book: Egan found this long-thought-lost book of witch history and has discovered some shocking secrets. Secrets all coven leaders have desperately hoped would never ever see the light of day again, ever!4)Jax’s family/coven: Jax knows from the beginning if she uses too much power her family will find her and kill her but in a town like Baker Gap, not using her power is virtually impossibleThe Bottom line: Although a bit slow in the beginning, once this book really starts moving it is hard to put down. With the exception of a couple of minor characters, I really liked the cast of White Witch. Jax is fierce, loyal, and though afraid of what her family may do to her is still willing to risk everything in order to escape a life she knows is wrong. Keller is cute, mostly sweet, and somewhat conflicted over his feelings for Jax. Once he pulls his head out of his butt, Keller gets much better and significantly more likeable. Egan and Toni are two of my favorite characters and two that I am hoping will make much larger appearances in future installments of the series. The only thing keeping me from bumping this book up to a full five stars is the slow pace of the novel’s beginning. White Witch is well worth the read so find the patience to get past the slow start. It is absolutely worth it in the end!

[woodtop255 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was the first witchcraft based YA novel I’ve read in a very long time. The last one I read approached the whole witch thing in a cheesy way which made me feel like I much rather have spent my time watching old episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. With White Witch. I have to say that wasn’t the case and I liked it more than I expected. It was suspenseful with a likable cast of characters.What I Liked: The action in the book starts immediately since Jax is on the run from her evil coven. The first few chapters focus on her assimilation into a normal high school life, something I found interesting. Her friendship with Toni and new romance with Keller felt natural and didn’t come across as forced or unrealistic. The final third of the novel is really what lifted this book from a three star to a four star book for me. When Egan was introduced, he instantly became my favorite character in the novel. It doesn’t seem like him and Jax are going to have a romantic relationship, but his protectiveness over Toni was very sweet. Also, Jax’s father made a terrific villain which I hope to see more of in the sequels.What I Didn’t Like: I have to say I’m not a super fan of the cover and I think it was one of the reasons I didn’t expect to like the book. It has a little bit of a cheesy look and the figure reminded me too much of Storm from X-Men. Pop culture references don’t usually bother me, but the ones in White Witch felt very dated, especially since the book came out a few months ago. A few examples: Scott Speedman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly were all mentioned over the course of the novel. I would have also liked to see a little more back story on Keller and about his family’s history of hunting.Rating: Four out of five stars