Isabella "Bella" Swan, chooses to move from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, so that her mother, Renée, can travel with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, who is a minor league baseball player. Even though Bella never had many friends in Phoenix, she attracts much attention at her new school in Forks and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys in the school compete for shy Bella's attention.When Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in biology class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed, even attempting to change his schedule to avoid her. After tricking a family friend, Jacob Black of the Quileute (pronounced Quil-yoot) tribe, into telling her the local tribal legends (flirting with him to do so), Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires. Although she was inexplicably attracted to him when she thought Edward drank human blood, she is much relieved to learn that the Cullens choose to abstain from drinking human blood, and drink animal blood instead. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love. Their foremost problem is Bella's "alluring scent", making Edward struggle to resist his desire to kill her. However, despite this and Bella's strange knack for constantly landing herself in dangerous situations, they manage to stay together safely for a time.
The seemingly perfect state of their relationship is thrown into chaos when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks and James, a tracker, sets his sights on Bella. Under the assumption that James has kidnapped her mother, Bella is lured to her former dance studio, where James attempts to kill her. Edward, along with the rest of the Cullen family, rescues Bella before James can kill her.
About the Cover:
Stephenie Meyer,the author, has stated that the apple on the cover represents the forbidden fruit from the book of Genesis. It symbolizes Bella's and Edward's love, which is forbidden, not unlike that of the forbidden apple tree. It also represents choice.
Main Characters for the whole series:
Isabella Marie Swan - The protagonist of the series, Bella is perpetually clumsy and somewhat of a "danger magnet". Her life turns upside down when she falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen. Eventually, her feelings for werewolf Jacob Black grow far beyond friendship, and she is forced to make a choice between her two loves. One important trait of Bella's is her immunity to supernatural abilities that involve the mind, such as Edward's mind reading.
Edward Anthony Masen Cullen - Edward is a reformed vampire who lives on animal blood instead of human blood. He lives with a clan of like-minded vampires known as the Cullen family. He loves Bella Swan, and feels great mutual dislike/revulsion towards Jacob Black due to both the love Jacob feels for Bella and the natural animosity between vampires and werewolves. Like some vampires, Edward has a supernatural ability; his gift is mind reading. He can read the thoughts of anyone within a few miles of himself; however, he can only read what the person is thinking at that moment. Bella is currently the only known individual who is immune to his power.
Alice Cullen - One of Edward's adoptive sisters. She is described as "pixie-like". Her special ability is seeing the future as soon as someone makes the decision to head down that path. This ability is very useful, as it gives the family forewarning to any dangers. She is married to Jasper Hale, who is her soul-mate, and she loves Bella as if she were her own sister.
Japer Hale - One of Edward's adoptive brothers, and Alice's husband and soul-mate. He can sense and influence the emotions of people around him. He has the most trouble with the Cullens' "vegetarian" lifestyle, since he is the newest member of the family. He became a vampire sometime during the American Civil War. He was initially involved in vampire wars, creating new vampires and forming them into armies, until he met Alice and became a part of the Cullen family.
Rosalie Hale - Edward's adoptive sister, who is extremely vain and is described as being the most beautiful person in the world. At first, she appears to play an antagonistic role in the story. She became a vampire when Carlisle saved her life after several men, including her fiancé, beat and presumably raped her, leaving her to die. She is the wife and soul-mate of Emmett Cullen.
Emmett Cullen - Edward's adoptive brother, and Rosalie's husband and soul-mate. After saving him from a bear that was on the verge of killing him, Rosalie carried Emmett over 100 miles to Carlisle so that he would change Emmett into a vampire. He is known for his muscularity and strength.
Dr. Carlisle Cullen - The adoptive father of the Cullen children and husband of Esme Cullen. He is around 400 years old and works as a doctor in Forks. After becoming a vampire, he spent hundreds of years resisting the smell of blood so that he could become a doctor. He changed Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett into vampires to save their lives.
Esme Cullen - Carlisle's wife, who was found by Carlisle and changed into a vampire after a failed suicide attempt following the death of her baby. She is the mother figure of the Cullen family, and has a strong ability to love passionately.
Charlie Swan - Chief of Police in Forks, he is Bella's overprotective father. Though he is unaware that Edward is a vampire, he doesn't completely trust his daughter's boyfriend and would much rather have his daughter date Jacob Black.
(sources: wikipedia, twilightthemovie.com)
*a two thumbs up!