This Jaded Heart is the second book of The Bridgewater Chronicles - a family saga that follows the Newkirk family dynasty from the late 19th century through the present time. In This Jaded Heart, a grown up Birdie Newkirk returns to home Bridgewater from her Boston boarding school ready to find love and make her mark on the world. Having inherited the negative traits of both her parents, Birdie does indeed make her mark on the world - but in all the wrong ways To her way of thinking Birdie believes she was abandoned by her mother years earlier when she was sent to Boston to receive a proper education. The emptiness created by her mother's infrequent visits has hardened her heart. A scandal of epic proportions exiles a grown Birdie to Europe until the furor dies down. As she flits from the arms of one man only to land in the arms of another, she leaves a trail of broken hearts behind as she locks away her own heart to keep from having it broken. Her exploits take her to both the East and West Coasts of America, London, Paris, the heart of Provence, and finally to a town along the Silk Road in Turkmenistan as she searches for unconditional love. But it is her home - Bridgewater - that sustains her as she moves through the decades trying to win her mother's approval. Follow Birdie's journey through this second generation of the Newkirk family as she poises the family for the future.