The Heir Chronicles #1: The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Jack was going to die as an infant until he had surgery. The surgeon was a wizard and transplanted a warrior stone into his heart. The stone gives Jack warrior powers, but he takes a medicine for sixteen years to hide them. Now, the summary gets tricky. There are two main families of wizards, the White Rose and the Red Rose, and they've been battling for centuries. They decided to create a competition, to the death, between warriors from the families, and the family of the surviving warrior rules the Wizard Council. There are very few warriors left in the world now, and Jack doesn't know about any of this history until wizards attempt to kill him. He begins intense training to prepare him for a competition that he has little chance of surviving.

This series is probably for more mature readers, since all of the main characters are in their mid-teens or are adults. It took me a little time to get into the book, as I tried to understand the history of the wizards, warriors, and other characters. However, I quickly became engrossed in the plot and couldn't put it down. Jack transformed from an average teenager into a powerful warrior. He had conflicts with a bully, he had girl problems, but he had two loyal friends to support him. The plot included twists, as some characters turned out to be evil. The wizard attacks provided action, and not knowing the characters' motivations added mystery. The plot built up to a suspenseful climax with a very unexpected surprise. I really enjoyed the beginning of this series and plan to read the next book, Wizard Heir.