Elise Hanover's driving purpose is to cure lycanthropy, for she is afflicted with the disease, albeit she came to be so in a different manner than most werewolves. Her mother was bitten while pregnant, and Elise did not manifest the symptoms until she was grown, and fell in love. Because of this, she retreated from college life, sealing herself off as an ice queen, working for the Juger Sachers to find a cure.

She has made some progress, and can cure a person if they take her serum before the first transformation, and can now keep herself from killing except on Edward's command. Now, things are starting to change. Her first love returns to her life; Nic is now an FBI agent, investigating a series of deaths among criminals. Little does he know that Elise is the one who killed them for the JS society.

No sooner has she gotten Nic out of her office than someone tries to kill Elise, sending her on the run with Nic. Her work is destroyed, her serum gone, and the full moon is coming. She must find Edward. When she does, things continue to go downhill. Edward is not at all happy with Elise for bringing Nic along, there is a new kind of werewolf on a killing spree, and Elise herself is becoming a new person. Her powers have increased, and love is making her harder for Edward to control. Elise is on the edge of something that will change her world forever, or kill her.

This is one book you can not put down. Elise's story builds gradually, revealing new things at a pace that allows you to absorb the information, then something else comes along immediately. Character development is superbly handled. The mystery and romance plots are tightly woven and complex, yet comprehensible. Fans of the series will be thrilled to find out more of Edward's history as an added bonus.

This is the third novel in the series, though there is a short story, Red Moon Rising, in an anthology called Stroke of Midnight.

In Dark Moon we meet another of the Jäger-Suchers, but this time Dr. Elise Hanover is not of the kick ass type as her predecessors though she does possess a dry wit and sharp mind and she is keeping a dark secret.

Dr. Elise Hanover has been working on a antidote for werewolfism for years and when FBI agent Nic Franklin, the man she loved and left years ago, shows up asking uncomfortable questions, her lab is firebombed and a very dangerous test subject escapes. The only way to save Nic and herself is to head for Fairhaven Wisconsin, where the Jäger-Suchers, Jesse and Will Cadotte (Blue Moon), and Leigh and Damien Fitzgerald (Hunter's Moon) are currently investigating some strange disappearances involving lots of blood but no bodies.

Nic Franklin is full of questions regarding Elise's work and why she disappeared all those years ago and is not inclined to be run out of town by Edward even when Nic's FBI superiors call him off. Something strange is going on and Nic is determined to stay with Elise until he figures it out.

When Elise is forced to reveal her dark secret, it's met with understandable suspicion from most of the other members of the team, and once again Elise feels like an outsider.

Elise never stopped loving Nic and when things heat up between them Nic discovers the depth of the feelings she had for him and her reluctance to admit him into her life again.

This series is a definite keeper, terrific witty repartee, interesting plot lines, well developed characters, some really funny lines and well done intimate scenes, excellent continuity, just an all over great book in a great series.

Synopsis
Elise Hanover feels the pull of the moon--even in its dark phase. She is a werewolf who feels nothing but disgust for the bloodlust and violent tendencies inside her. Nick Franklin is the man she met and fell in love with in college, and the man whose touch first awakened her beast. When she realized that her lust for him inspired the wolf inside her, she ran as far and as fast as she could. To defeat her furry side, she has spent the last five years in a secret location in Montana, trying to find a cure for lycanthropy. Just as she feels she's at the edge of a breakthrough, her research is interrupted. Nick is now an FBI agent--and he's standing in her lab. Minutes after they leave the building, it explodes, destroying all of Elise's research and the serum she needs to fight her bloodlust. Together, Nick and Elise must race to find a cure for before the next full moon rises. Dark Moon is full of dry wit, steamy chemistry, and truly scary villians.