Anuja Varghese Book Launch: A Kiss of Crimson Ash
Schedule
Fri May 29 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
857b Bank St | Ottawa, ON
About this Event
Join Penguin Canada and Evermore Books for the launch of A Kiss of Crimson Ash
Anuja Varghese in conversation with Carter SullivanDoors open at 6:30pm, event begins at 7pm. Join us for readings, refreshments, and book signing! Local author Amanda Connolly will also join for a sneak peek at her forthcoming romantasy The Lure of Wolves and Whispers!
---
The first book in a new medieval India-inspired fantasy trilogy, A Kiss of Crimson Ash teems with rich storytelling, lush worldbuilding, and spice of every variety.
Taara, the pious newly crowned Queen of Abhaya, a resource-rich city-state, must marry whether she wishes to or not. Her betrothed is Garjan, Prince of Nandapore, a neighbouring city-state full of secrets and spellcasters. His forbidden love is Bhediya, a courtesan with magic in her blood. And then there is Roland, a thief by trade, attached to nothing and no one, who stumbles into a power-hungry king’s plot to unearth a weapon that has only lived in myth...until now.
Linked by desire, destiny, and a dangerous foe, these four must summon the power of an ancient goddess and chart a course through the empire’s brothels, temples, taverns, and palaces, forcing them to confront the darkest kinds of magic and the truest parts of themselves—before it’s too late.
Locked in a battle that will reshape the empire, they each must decide: What will they risk for a weapon worth dying for, and a love worth life itself?
---
ANUJA VARGHESE (she/her) is an award-winning writer and editor. Her debut short story collection, Chrysalis, won the Writers' Trust of Canada's Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, was shortlisted for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. Her work has appeared in Hobart, Corvid Queen, Southern Humanities Review, The Malahat Review, The Fiddlehead, and Plenitude Magazine, as well as the Queer Little Nightmares anthology, among others. Anuja lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with her partner, two kids, and two cats.
CARTER SULLIVAN is an Ottawa-based content creator sharing the cozy and chaotic parts of everyday life in her 20s. From reading to finances to home projects and more, she's built a community around finding joy in the little things and romanticizing everyday life. Ever since she picked up the Magic Tree House books as a kid, Carter has loved getting lost in any story she can get her hands on. From romance to fantasy to literary fiction, horror and thrillers, she reads a little bit of everything. When she's not working her corporate job, filming Youtube videos or snuggling her dogs, you can probably find her reorganizing her bookshelves, listening to an audiobook or at a bookstore with her husband and a cappuccino in hand!
Where is it happening?
857b Bank St, 857b Bank Street, Ottawa, CanadaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 0.00
