Return of the Knight by Elizabeth Johns - could we call him a nerd?

Gabriel returns from the Napoleontic war with Napoleon removed to St Helena. His father died and he is now the earl. During the war he worked with men and did a lot of spying. But he is not good at social events and entertaining the ton. A bit of a shy nerd. So how to find a woman to marry and settle down with. In his first week back but still incognito he barges into the vicar's niece he knew in the past. She would do.

In the story we see two people who have to make arrangements for their future slowly becoming friends.

It is quite a nice story that has a refreshing anti-hero as a hero.

There is one BUT.... in the beginning it is often mentioned that he would rather face a column of French soldiers than a room full of debutantes. That is UTTERLY silly to write. No one would prefer mortal peril. It would have been easy to say something as "send to join the British army overseas" or something.

What  makes me still give it 4 stars out of 5 is the sympathetic and realistic person Gabriel is.