Topic: Sequence of Tense,

Best Answer Explained in Below-:

The sentence "I-to meet you since I read your first novel" requires a verb that conveys a continuous or ongoing desire to meet someone that started in the past and extends to the present. The options provided include various forms of "hope," each with a different nuance in meaning and tense.

Option A, "hope," suggests a current, non-continuous desire and does not imply any specific duration, making it less suitable for this context. Option C, "am hoping," indicates a present, active hope but lacks the historical connection to the moment the speaker read the novel. Option D, "have been hoping," expresses a continuous hope that started in the past, which could work, but it’s more focused on the ongoing aspect rather than a general desire.

Option B, "have hoped," is the most fitting choice. It conveys that the speaker has had a desire to meet the person since reading the novel, emphasizing that this desire emerged at a specific past time (when they read the novel) and continues to the present. This alignment with the timeframe and the contextual meaning makes "have hoped" the best fit for the sentence.