The Broken Ring, Volume 1: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway

"Only those who have died know how long a lifetime is. Ines Valeztena's first life ended at the age of twenty-six. Ines Valeztena, daughter of a powerful noble family, and Carcel Escalante, cousin to the crown prince, have been engaged since they were six years old. Their long-delayed marriage has been the talk of high society for years, and although her fiance is the empire's most notorious playboy, Ines seems inexplicably content to keep the arrangement. In fact, she encourages him to do whatever he pleases even after their wedding, as long as they maintain order among the nobles. What the gossips--and Carcel--don't know is that Ines has plans for her marriage of obligation, and they have nothing to do with love. But when Carcel suddenly declares he is ready to reform his rakish ways, marry immediately, and prove to Ines that he is worthy of her true affection, she must keep her wits about her or risk losing everything she's spent lifetimes of heartache and desperation to obtain."--