Ana


Romance - General
240 Pages
Reviewed on 07/08/2019
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Ana is the eighth novel from Gary Hope. Two previous books have
won national awards from the Online Book Club of America. Gary
finds inspiration for his books from his many travels, as is the case
with Ana. His travel experiences in Moab, Killarney, Galway,
Dubrovnik, Seattle, Venice, Iceland, St. Petersburg, Malta,
London, Nassau, Red Springs, and Hawaii have given him a
perspective on life and love that helps create lifelike characters
that readers can identify with.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

Ana by Gary Hope is a humorous, witty, cynical, ironic, highly charged romance novel that is oozing with love, pure unconditional love. A Salt Lake City advice columnist, Noah lives in the little tourist town of Moab in Utah. He has a varied reader base to whom he dispenses his always ironic and always funny words of advice. His life in Moab settles into a predictable routine that is shattered when he receives an email from Ana. What started as a seemingly casual exchange of emails turns into an intense online love affair. Sight unseen, Noah falls hopelessly in love with Ana and, in a twist of fate, he meets Dorothy during one of his hiking trips.

Ana by Gary Hope is truly an entertaining read. It is a unique love triangle romance that is as thrilling as any popular movie showing in the cinemas today. It helps a lot that Gary Hope writes with the paintbrush of a landscape visual artist so that the enchanting beauty of the Utah wilderness becomes vivid and real. And he has a lot of wit and wisdom to share that borders on the hilariously funny. But what makes Ana such an unforgettable novel is probably the intensity of his main protagonist's emotions, so much so that anyone could get carried away by them. This is a story with a deceptively simple plot, one setting, with not so many characters, and a dash of wisdom here and there, but it comes out as complex as human life itself!

Peggy Jo Wipf

In Ana by Gary Hope, Noah writes for the Salt Lake City Tribune as an advice columnist. He is either loved by his audience or hated by those whom he answered. His responses are vague but other times he calls people out for their stupidity or laziness, and encourages those who need it. There is Ana who started emailing Noah after she read his column and enjoyed his peculiar personality. Though they have never met and they don’t even know what the other looks like, Noah is very attracted to this woman. Then he meets a local park ranger, Dorothy, with whom he enjoys spending time. He tries to keep these two women separate but is frustrated with Ana because she will never agree to meet. And Dorothy would have been perfect if he hadn’t met Ana first.
 
Ana starts out quirky and leisurely as Gary Hope establishes the characters. The love triangle in Ana is unique and funny. This is the first book I have read by Gary Hope and I loved it. The advice that Noah gives to his readers is laugh out loud hilarious. I found I would share bits of this story with my family because I wanted them to laugh along with me. Noah is picky about his women. He wants someone who challenges him mentally and Ana is just that person. His attraction to Dorothy makes him feel disloyal to Ana, whom he may never meet. The author keeps this story interesting with the dilemma in which the characters find themselves. I would highly recommend this novel for those who believe love interests will find each other. The author is creative with a sense of humor.

Ruffina Oserio

Ana by Gary Hope is an interesting romance that is filled with realism and adventure. Told in a humorous and captivating tone, it follows Noah, an advice columnist for a Salt Lake City newspaper. Noah is an adventurous character who enjoys exploring the wilderness of Moab, Utah. He loves hiking and when not hiking, he responds to all kinds of messages from readers seeking advice. But Noah has a huge problem. He is torn between two women. While he loves Dorothy, a Park Ranger he first met while hiking, he is irresistibly drawn to Ana, the woman he’s only met online. Who will he choose?

The story is told in an engrossing first-person narrative and the humor hits the reader right off the bat. The very first lines present a light tone and prepare the reader for a hilarious encounter with the protagonist: “I’m a newspaper columnist for the Salt Lake City Tribune. I don’t live in Salt Lake City, however. Too many fake Mormons up there for me. I live down here in the desert in a little place called Moab, Utah, where all the citizens are good and righteous jack-Mormons. They don’t pretend to be anything but themselves . . . heck, some of them are even Baptists.” I enjoyed the use of the epistolary style and how the author uses it to deepen the connection between Noah and Ana. The question and response part of his work brings a unique reading experience to readers, highlighting the originality of the writing and offering readers a lot of entertainment. This is a beautiful story and Gary Hope comes across as a very gifted storyteller. Exceptional characters, a strong conflict, and a cunning plot.