
Eclipse is the third book in the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. It continues the story of 18-year-old Bella Swan and her vampire love, Edward Cullen. Eclipse is the sequel to New Moon.
The story begins with a note from Jacob to Bella. It includes many sentences that he crossed out, but ends with him saying, "Yeah, I miss you too. A lot. Doesn't change anything. Sorry. -Jacob." Charlie still blames Edward for making Bella go into a zombie-like state after he left, and for being responsible for her unexplained disappearance in New Moon when she raced to Volterra, Italy to save Edward's life. He wants nothing to do with Edward, attempting to show with every word and gesture that the vampire is unwelcome in the house. Seattle is revealed to be plagued by a string of unsolved murders, which Edward suspects to be the cause of a newborn vampire that is unable to control his thirst. Charlie "un-grounds" Bella, but on the condition that she spend more time with her friends, especially Jacob, and not just Edward and Alice Cullen. Edward and Bella continue filling out their college applications, while Bella explains to Edward her desire to see Jacob again. Edward refuses, explaining that young werewolves are "unstable" and that those who associate with them often get hurt, due to the werewolves' constant angry outbursts.
Meanwhile, Alice has a vision that Victoria, the vampire that is hunting Bella, is back in town. Edward, keeping this knowledge from Bella, talks Charlie into letting them take a weekend trip to Jacksonville, Florida to see Bella's mother. When they return, Jacob confronts Edward as to why he is keeping Victoria's return a secret from Bella, also discussing the treaty's bounds, as the Cullens crossed the territorial line while chasing Victoria into werewolf territory. Edward explains to Bella that he took her away from Forks to keep her safe. Jacob and Bella reconcile, much to Edward's disapproval.
Edward insists that the only reason he doesn't want Bella seeing Jacob is because werewolves can be dangerous. Bella insists that Jacob and the rest of the pack are safe and that Jacob would never harm her. Edward finally agrees and willingly takes her, on occasion, to the border line (the area where the pact between the Quileutes and the Cullens was made, and where both can travel freely), where Jacob picks her up and takes her to his house. During one of these visits, Jacob clarifies his emotions toward Bella; he reveals that he loves her and forcefully kisses her, much to her displeasure. She reacts by punching him as hard as she can, succeeding only in breaking her hand (as werewolves are as durable as vampires).
Edward angrily threatens Jacob when Bella is brought back home. He tells him if he ever brings her back injured, he will be running on 3 legs, referring to his wolf form. He also says that if he ever kisses Bella, he will break his jaw, unless Bella asks him to kiss her. Jacob clarifies what occurred, and they grudgingly agree to work together and deal with Victoria. Later that night after Jacob leaves, Bella agrees to marry Edward on one condition: that he sleep with her before turning her into a vampire. Edward initially refuses, explaining to Bella that he could very well kill her. He eventually says, upon realizing how much it means to Bella, that he is willing to try in the future as long as they are married first. Bella expresses the worry of what other people will think if she gets married so early, as she remembers the problems that marrying fresh out of high school caused her mother. However, she realizes that spending the rest of eternity with Edward is more important to her than anything else, and when Edward formally proposes to her minutes later, she accepts. She is still reluctant to the marriage and engagement as a whole; in an attempt to keep the engagement secret, she stubbornly refuses to wear the engagement ring in public, which belonged to Edward's mother.
Bella discovers that a vampire has taken things from her room for the purpose of using her scent to locate her. Meanwhile, the Cullens realize that there is an "army" of newborn vampires committing the murders in Seattle. Bella soon makes the connection between both incidents, and realizes that the new vampires are being led by Victoria. Alice foresees a battle between Victoria's coven and the joined forces of the werewolves and the Cullens.
In order to understand the newborns' methods more clearly, Jasper tells his story. He describes, in detail, how he became a vampire and a part of the Cullen family. To the Cullens' advantage, he is an expert in dealing with newborn vampires, since he was once the "General" of a large and powerful army of newborns. The Cullens and the Quileutes arrange a meeting in the woods, and Jasper demonstrates to everyone how to fight in "newborn combat", explaining the weaknesses of newborn vampires. Bella later asks Edward to stay out of the fight because she cannot bear to lose him.
As everyone else prepares for battle, Edward and Bella camp up in the mountains, where they are later joined by Jacob and Seth Clearwater -a younger, new member of the pack- to wait out the battle. They use Bella's scent to set a trap for the newborns to follow, which will lead them to face the Cullens and the werewolves. Bella succumbs to the numbing cold at the top of the mountain, and Jacob, with the intention of taunting Edward, slips into Bella's sleeping bag in order to keep her warm (a werewolf's normal core body temperature is about 109 degrees). Hovering between sleep and conciousness, she hears a conversation between Edward and Jacob, in which Jacob openly confesses his feelings for Bella to Edward. And Edward admits that Jacob can give Bella some things that he, Edward, can't. The two of them come to an uncomfortable half-truce.
In the morning, Edward and Bella begin talking about their engagement; they hear a howl of agony, and Bella realizes that it is Jacob, who had been listening in to their conversation. He runs away before Bella can reach him, and so she asks Edward to go after him. When they come back, Edward gives them some space to talk. Jacob threatens to join the fight and get himself killed because Bella doesn't love him; when Bella begs him not to, he insists that he won't do it if she asks him to kiss her (later on, he reveals that he had tricked her into believing he would kill himself, just so he could kiss her). Furious, she does so, and she realizes that she is in love with Jacob too, although she knows she cannot live without Edward.
When Edward returns, he admits that he overheard everything and that he's not angry at her for loving and kissing Jacob; this makes Bella feel guilty, as she can see he's obviously in emotional pain. As the two stay at the camp with Seth, Victoria's newborns attack. The werewolves and Cullens make short work of her inexperienced army, but Victoria goes around the battle completely: she soon arrives to confront Bella and Edward, along with one of her newborns named Riley, who she has tricked into believing that she thinks of him as a mate. Edward tries to talk Riley out of fighting for Victoria, and tells Riley that Victoria is only using him; however, at the last second, Victoria bolsters Riley's faith in her, and he refuses to back down. A fight breaks out, and in the end Seth (in his wolf form) kills Riley as Edward destroys Victoria.
The Cullens, as well as the pack, are unharmed during the fight; but Jacob was injured when Leah Clearwater (one of the werewolves) tried to take on one of the newborns alone. Jacob stopped the vampire from killing her, but the entire right side of his body was crushed in the process. Carlisle assures Bella that Jacob is healing and that no permanent damage was done. The Volturi arrive to clean up the war, but they are too late. They remind Edward of the agreement they had to change Bella into a vampire, to which Alice replies that the date has been set.
Bella goes to visit Jacob, who is on the mend, a little while later. They both admit that they love each other, but Bella explains that her love for Edward is much greater and she can't live without him. Jacob tells her that if she ever changes her mind, he will always be there for her.
When she returns from La Push, Edward announces that he's decided to break off the deal, after seeing that Bella is trying to make everyone happy but herself. He says they needn't get married before trying to make love, as she wished. However, Bella states that she wants to do things the way he wanted to, and agrees to marry him first, then make love, then be turned. Edward places the ring back on her finger, and Bella grimly suggests that it is time to break the news to her father.
The epilogue is from Jacob's perspective. He receives an invitation to Bella and Edward's wedding, and a letter from Edward. Edward tells Jacob that he doesn't have to come to the wedding, but if their places had been switched he would have wanted the choice. He also thanks Jacob for all he's done for Bella. The letter only angers Jacob further, because he believes she is killing herself by choosing to become a vampire. Ignoring the questions, sympathy, and pleas from the rest of his pack, he changes into his wolf form and runs off, attempting to "leave Jacob Black behind." He hopes that if he doesn't phase back, he won't ever have to feel that pain again. He decides that he is no longer hurt that Bella would choose Edward over him, but he wonders how things will be between them once Bella becomes a vampire.