Join Hopeless Romantic Books for an evening of conversation, connection and community celebrating the launch of: YOU x ME. Author, Ayla Vejdani will be in conversation with award-winning advocate, speaker, and artist, Farrah Khan to talk about all things queer romance. The evening will include: a reading, conversation, Q&A and book signing, along with special sweet treats. You don't want to miss it!

Don’t forget to pre-order a copy of the book!

 June 16, 2026  7:00-8:30PM  HRB - 1080 Queen St W, Toronto

About the Author:
Ayla Vejdani (she/her) is a storyteller, holder of space and curator of experience. Raised and educated all over the world, she has a master’s in human rights, is an inclusive leadership consultant, and the co-host of The SHIFT podcast. She speaks four languages and laughs in all. Ayla is a queer Iranian-Canadian from Tkaronto/Toronto living in Tiohtia:ke/Montréal, raising her two young children. She is an insatiably creative, romantic realist who believes in magic. Her forthcoming novel YOU x ME is a series of queer, BIPOC love stories. These modern entanglements are the kind of romances that make us lose sleep, love letters to the friendships we can’t live without, and a celebration of our endless journeys of self-discovery. @ayla.author

About the Moderator:
Farrah Khan is an award-winning writer, artist, and advocate who works to grow consent futures with community. She is a queer, disabled, mixed-race South Asian/Dutch settler living in Toronto. A multi-genre author, Farrah writes at the intersection of personal narrative, cultural criticism, and advocacy about pleasure, representation, care and accountability. Author of Caring for Yourself is a Radical Act and co-editor of the graphic novel Heartbeats: The IZZAT Project, her writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Refinery 29. Her short films have been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the British Film Institute's London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. She has received the Governor General's Commemoration of the Persons Case Award, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women Who Inspire Award, and the YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction Award. She deeply believes in the radical possibility of the happy ending. She has been obsessed with romance as a political act since she was twelve, hiding her mother's novels under her comforter. She is currently writing her first queer romance novel. @farrahsafiakhan