Join Hopeless Romantic Books for a celebration of the book launch of This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara! Shalini will be joined in conversation with Lochi (@lochislibrary). Books will be available for purchase at the event, and we recommend pre-ordering to guarantee stock! 

📅 Saturday July 18, 2026
🕒 7:30-9:00PM
📍 HRB - 1080 Queen St W, Toronto
🎟 $5 ticket to reserve your spot

Please note a $5 nonrefundable event ticket fee applies for all events hosted at Hopeless Romantic Books. If event tickets sell out, please contact romantics@hopelessromanticbooks.com to be added to a waitlist. Please contact the same email if you are no longer available to attend.

About the Author:

Shalini Abeysekara (she/her/hers) is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of This Monster of Mine. A former corporate lawyer, she uses fantasy to explore monstrosity, craft cynical MMCs who respect women, and center neurodivergent women reckoning with their place in a world that tells them they’re too much and not enough. When not writing, she games her life away and tries to make the perfect entremet. Most days, she can’t believe she's an adult, and hope you don’t either.

Her debut dark romantasy duology, This Monster of Mine, is an Ancient Rome-inspired bloodbath of manipulation, deception, and forbidden love. 

The sequel, This Blade of Ours, releases on June 30th in North America, and July 2nd everywhere else.

About the Moderator:

Lochi is a Canadian romance reader, reviewer, and content creator behind Lochi’s Library. Through her platform, she celebrates diverse voices in romance, shares honest in-depth reviews, highlights upcoming releases, and encourages readers to diversify their bookshelves. With a growing community across Instagram, Threads, and Goodreads, Lochi has become a trusted voice for romance recommendations and reader engagement. She also moderates both online and in-person book events, creating welcoming spaces that celebrate the joy and positivity of the romance genre.