Nothing Left to Lose

by N.R. Walker

When Brody Molina entered photos of him and Miller into a newlywed photo contest for a free weekend in Vegas, he didn’t think they’d win. But they did. There’s just one big they’re not actually married.

Miller Norton has been in love with his straight best friend forever. Tired of the heartache, he tries to put some distance between them. But then Brody wins a free weekend in Vegas. Against his better judgment—and as a last goodbye to their friendship—Miller agrees to play along.

It’s a stupid, stupid idea, but hey, it’s Vegas where anything goes. The stakes are high. But if Brody realizes he’s ready to go all in, then Miller can roll the dice one more time, right? When there’s nothing left to lose, maybe they’ll both win.


16,500-words. First released in the Vegas, Baby! anthology (print only). Now a single release.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Novella, LGBT, Short Stories

81 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2024

About the author

Author also writes as A. Voyeur

N.R. Walker is an Australian author, who loves her genre of gay romance. She loves writing and spends far too much time doing it, but wouldn't have it any other way.

She is many things; a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer. She has pretty, pretty boys who she gives them life with words.

She likes it when they do dirty, dirty things...but likes it even more when they fall in love. She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.

She’s been writing ever since...

https://www.facebook.com/N.R.WalkerAu...

Reviews

[Snjez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the unrequited love trope and the beginning of this short story seemed promising, but it went downhill for me pretty quickly.

- I don't buy that 'waking up next to your best friend of 11 years and suddenly feeling attracted to him'
- after that first nap on their first day it felt like the MCs switched their personalities
- most of the time when things were happening between them, they were just drunk enough
- their first intimate moments were witnessed by a lot of strangers
- on the second day we get 'i love you' and 'boyfriend' and 'forever' from a person who just realized his attraction to his best friend the day before

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny, but I feel like I've read this scenario countless times. There's absolutely nothing new in this story.

Best friends pretending to be a married couple with one of them being gay and hopelessly in love with his straight best friend - who turns out to be not so straight after all. 


3 stars!

[⋆｡°✮ Lucy InTheSky ✮°｡⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, good friends to lovers story right up until the second half, when they actually start talking about it.
I expected the same energy as in the first half and definitely more sex.

🟣 Best friends to lovers
🔵 Gay/GFY
🟢 Both 25 years old
🟡 A Vegas newlyweds getaway where they have to fake it
🟠 I love the cover
🌶️ Some smut, it's more the sexual tension between them; kissing, some frotting and oral off-page, a handjob on-page

Brody and Miller have the best, healthiest friendship when the story starts.
They've known each other for 11 years, they do everything together, Brody is like the bestest friend you can have and Miller is head over heels in love with him and has been ever since they've met.

"Everything he did messed with my head. He was one hundred percent boyfriend material. The perfect boyfriend for me. He was caring, sweet, supportive, funny, gorgeous . . . And straight. And one hundred percent not my boyfriend."

Miller starts pulling back a little bit, because it's getting harder for him to have this amazing friendship without being with Brody, so Brody freaks out, afraid he's losing Miller and gets them a weekend getaway in Vegas for newlyweds, which they have to pretend to be while over there.

Brody gets his awakening, he says he's definitely not interested in other men, just Miller, having a bit of an existential crisis, but feels everything he's doing is right

"What I wanted to do was take his face in my hands and kiss him so he, and the other men, knew damn well who he belonged to. But I couldn’t. So I put my fingers to his chin and lifted his face. “You belong to me.” Yep. I said that. Out loud. To his face. For fuck’s sake. And the funny thing about it? I meant every word."

so, even though I really liked them in the first half of the book, it was authentic, hot and good, the second half with all the talking they were doing completely obliterated that strong chemistry.
My first thought would be trying to get with each other as many times as possible and eventually talk about it, maybe at home, sure, so I don't get why didn't they take advantage of everything in Vegas and just fucked like crazy for those couple of days.

That's what the story needed, that hot, sizzling chemistry on-page coupled up with fantastic sex and the story doesn't really give you that much of it, it doesn't end with a good epilogue either.

It's good, but the second half kind of kills it.

[Liya · Rating 3 out of 5]

~2.5
One of those totally unbelievable GFY stories - the straight guy waking up one day suddenly attracted to his best gay friend. I was not a fan. Plus, too much "liquid courage" was required.
But it was cute enough, and I read it in one go, so rounding up.

[Carol (§CoverLoverGirl§) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad It Didn’t Stay in Vegas

Awwww, Miller and Brody were High School Besties and now 11 years later Miller can’t hide his feelings any more and he is hurting.

Brody is worried about Miller, he has been acting so down and withdrawn for a few months. So he does something to cheer him up.

When Miller’s sister got married, Miller and Brody were all dressed up in their Tuxedos and flower in their lapels. Lights flashes as photo were taken of them dancing together, and even standing close, holding hands, like they often did when they were out socialising. Then Brody did something that changed everything, especially for him, and made Miller’s dream come through.

Only in Vegas, 🤔. Awww, this was a hot short story from N.R.Walker, that left me with a smile on my face. 🥰

[Gaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been better

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miller & Brody
Rating: 3.5 ⭐

- Best Friends to Lovers
- Fake Husbands
- Queer Awakening
- 11yrs of Pining
- Last Chance
- What Happens in Vegas
- Close Proximity
- Only One Bed

This was a cute and quick read about two best friends that pretend to be newlyweds in Vegas because Brody entered them into a contest, which they won. Miller had been pulling away because he could no longer hide his pining for Brody, but Brody was sad and anxious because their friendship was drifting and he wanted to save it. It takes one kiss, requested for the contest, then Brody starts to question things and connecting the dots of his emotions over the years.

Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
- Graphic sexual content between consenting adults
- Explicit language

Verse: No
HEA: HFN
POV: Dual
Breakup: No
Cheat: No
OM/OW Drama: No
Ages: 25 & 25

[book_reader_addict · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best friends to lovers ❤️ ❤️ It’s so sweet! Very well written we❤️ Bi awakening so lots of firsts 🔥
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

[SJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice way to begin a new month of romance.This novella was short and sweet with some familiar tropes: Fake married couple and gay awakening of a straight guy, along with long time best friends ending up with each other romantically.
Nothing earth moving here, but the MCs were nice guys with that attractive easy going bro relationship. The sex was foreplay.
What puts this book a notch higher than an average MM is the author. Just her name on a cover gives the book a shine and makes it a Want to Read.
I loved their recent Australian outback cowboy book, ‘The Men From Echo Creek.’ Hope there will be a sequel.

[The Secret Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5
Steam: 2
PoV: dual, 1st person
Genre: contemporary romance novella, MM
Tropes / tags: friends to lovers, pining, fake marriage

[Aki | nose buried in books | ❤️ | · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 🌟

[Nijntje Pluis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars. I usually love N.R. Walker, but this didn’t really land well. I know it’s a short story, so everything has to happen fast, but this was too much too soon. If Brody had realised sometime before the trip what his feelings were, it would have been a lot more believable. He could have engineered the whole thing to try and test the waters or something. I also didn’t like that a lot of their first intimate moments happened in front of others, like at the weird Speedoparty and they were basically drunk the whole time. Meh.

[Kristel (hungryandhappy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super fast paced short story, fake married, best friends, queer awakening. It was sweet, and I didn't mind how unlikely some scenes were. There was too much drinking for my liking, but I guess that's Vegas? Well, besides that the story of the longest pining with the straight bff oblivious until the gay bff started pulling away making him feel all the feelings he had no idea where always there waiting to be acknowledged, was cute. And hot. Fast and easy read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brodie enters pictures of him and his best friend, Miller into a competition for newlyweds. They win and get 3 days in Las Vegas. The only problem is that they have to pretend to be married.
Miller has been in love with his best friend for a long time, only thing is Brodie is straight. By the end of the 3 days though, Brodie gets with the program and the 2 have their HEA.
Just long enough for a story.

[Lelyana's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute but not my favorite from Nic Walker

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and tooth-achingly sweet. Exactly what I needed!

[Rin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great best-friends to lovers MM, all the feels (mutual pining, very 'two-idiots-in-love'), light on the spice, very satisfying emotionally 🥰

[Tinnean · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, so cute!

Minimal angst, a very hot demi awakening, and two guys who are
perfect for each other. Best of all, they managed to keep secret the fact they weren't really, legally married. That's for now, but we'll see what the future holds. This was a real pleasure to read. 😁

[Edga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story, nice friends to lovers tale. This transition was fairly pain free, the guys friends and family unsurprised by their suddenly serious relationship. An easy, uplifting read, that's been done before.

[RBR]

“Courage is as often the outcome of despair as of hope; in the one case we have nothing to lose, in the other everything to gain.” ~ Diane de Poitiers


Miller Norton, of 'Nothing Left to Lose' by N.R. Walker, is exhausted. Tired of tiptoeing around his feelings for his best friend, Brody Molina, pushing them down and pretending to be happy has worn him down to the point that he no longer has the energy to keep up the façade. Miller hates that he feels this way, but he has had it. Miller wants to have a life without the constant reminder that being any more than friends with Brody is a lost cause. Just as he begins to pull away, Brody wins a newlyweds contest in which he had entered Miller and himself. Now Miller has a choice: Does he continue creating distance between them or give it one more chance?

Although he knows it isn't ethical, Brody wants to take the trip to Vegas with Miller, so he quietens his conscience. He convinces Miller that no one will know, and they should take advantage of the opportunity and have fun. He misses Miller, who has seemed especially busy lately, and believes this will be an excellent way to spend time together. Besides, they already act like a couple, so convincing everyone they are, should be easy.

Once in Vegas, they find themselves in a whirlwind of attention, more than they ever anticipated. Contest employees are everywhere, capturing their every move and conducting interviews. They are obligated to attend various events and dinners. Their room, albeit beautiful, is adorned with romantic decorations, including a grand bed, befitting the wedding suite. Brody is amused, but Miller is overwhelmed. Yet, if this is his last time with Brody, he will go all in.

'Nothing Left to Lose' is an endearing story about two men who took way too long to get on the same page. It was frustrating waiting for Brody to realize what everyone already knew – that he wasn't just Miller's friend, but that he was in love with him and that Miller felt the same. Thanks, N.R., for bringing these guys together.


DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book was purchased by the reviewer.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I don’t know what it is about fake dating as a romance trope, but I can’t get enough. (I once fake-dated someone in seventh grade for like two days, but that’s another story.)

Brody and Miller have been best friends for 11 years, since the first year of high school. A lot of the time they’re inseparable, and they know almost everything about one another. In fact, Brody is the first person Miller ever came out to. But there’s just one little thing:

“We’d been inseparable for eleven years, and I’d been desperately in love with him for every hopeless minute of those eleven years.”

Miller has been able to tamp down his feelings for Brody, even as he watches him bed a parade of women. But lately, it’s becoming harder and harder to want someone as badly as he wants Brody, and he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life pining for someone who doesn’t feel the same way about him.

When they win a photo contest, the prize is an all-expense say in Las Vegas. But there’s one catch: it was a contest for newlyweds. That’s right, Miller’s straight best friend entered them in a photo contest and they have to pretend to be married for the weekend. While that should thrill Miller, it actually makes him sad, because he wants the real thing. And that can’t happen, right? Right?

N.R. Walker is an author I discovered this year and I have loved her books. For me, the combination of emotion, steam, and humor is always a hit, and I so enjoy having characters to root for.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/getbookedwithlarry/.

[Julie Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, feel-good short novella - under 100 pages. Lots of familiar tropes here: best friends to lovers, bi awakening, fake marriage, what happens in Vegas, just one bed.

If I don’t think too much about it and just go by how this story made me feel, it’s definitely 4 stars. However, there were some things that were a bit meh… firstly, it seemed like they spent the majority of their time being drunk or hungover. I didn’t like that their first intimate moments (including their first kiss) took place in front of an audience, and after that, it seemed like Miller and Brody almost switched personalities; at first, Miller had been the anxious one, as the person with an 11-year-long crush on his straight best friend who knew he’d need to put some distance between them to move on, whilst Brody was just chill and wanting to have a great time with his best friend. Later, Brody was an anxious and overwhelmed with all the new things he was suddenly feeling, and Miller seemed to have forgotten his worries from earlier. That seemed to happen incredibly fast, which I just want a big fan of.

It’s very insta-love in that they’re suddenly talking about forever before they’ve even properly explored their friendship past being friends, but this is a very fun and fast read if you need a pick-me-up or something to fill your time between other books!

[Michael Adam Reale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Nothing Left to Lose by N.R. Walker

Tone: warm, steady, emotionally attuned, with your signature clarity

N.R. Walker delivers a tender, quietly powerful romance about two men rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of trauma. What makes this book land isn’t just the chemistry — it’s the patience. Walker lets both characters breathe, grieve, and slowly reorient themselves toward connection without rushing the emotional arc.

The story balances heaviness with genuine sweetness: small domestic moments, gentle humor, and the kind of trust-building that feels earned rather than scripted. The romance unfolds with a slow-burn steadiness that respects the characters’ wounds, and when the intimacy arrives, it feels like a natural extension of their healing rather than a tonal shift.

Walker’s strength has always been character interiority, and here it shines. Both leads feel grounded, flawed, and deeply human. Their relationship becomes a refuge — not a cure-all, but a place where they can finally exhale.

For readers who appreciate queer romance that honors trauma without exploiting it, and who enjoy watching two men learn to choose hope again, Nothing Left to Lose is a deeply satisfying, heart-forward read.

[Jonny_Jinx · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hot but sweet love realised finally between gay Miller and straight Brody

Some of us have been there, and some haven't.
Having that longtime straight friend who we do everything with, talking on the phone two or three times a day, and having weekend catch-ups whether they are in a relationship or not, and his girlfriend of the time realising that our friendship was non-negotiable.
We would have lunch most weekdays, so they could have time together even though it killed me, making do with a couple of beers at our regular bar after work every day.
This story was exactly like mine, except he was 25 years old and I was 26 years old when we met, and we were both in "committed" relationships, both of which ended PDQ after we met. We did everything together for 16 years, but unlike Miller, I wasn't so lucky. I was offered a promotion in a different city, so i finally gave up the one-and-dones, sat him down, and told him I wanted more, how long I had been waiting.
I didn't have to say much, b3fore I took the promotion. I've never heard from him since - over 20 years. I like this story better.

[fortheloveofmmromancebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miller Norton has been best friends with Brody for eleven years since they were in high school. Miller has also been in love with Brody for all of those eleven years.

Brody Molina has entered himself and his best friend into a ‘newlyweds’ competition and has won a three day break in Las Vegas. The photos were taken at Miller’s sister’s wedding, where they both wore tuxedos and danced together, giving off newlywed vibes.

Once at the hotel in Vegas, they both think it will be a few days of drinking and chilling, what they didn't expect was the magazine who held the competition to be there and wanting to take photos of the couple. They are asked to kiss by the promoters. Brody has never kissed another man before, and certainly not his best friend. Once they kiss, sparks fly and it has Brody questioning everything he has ever known.

This is such a sweet best friends to lovers short novella.
N. R. Walker certainly knows how to write a heartwarming book, this is like a great big hug.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but so, so sweet 😍

Miller has been in love with his straight best friend since they met eleven years ago. It’s getting too hard for him, but just as he decides he needs to put some distance between them, Brody wins them a trip to Las Vegas. The only catch is that they have to pretend to be married. While Miller struggles with how close they need to appear to be, Brody is trying to wrap his head around newly discovered feelings of attraction to Miller.

This story is too short for much angst. Yet it doesn’t feel too short—except for just liking the characters enough to want more time with them. But their connection as friends is establishing well enough that the story doesn’t need to spend more time making their situation or feelings more believable.

It’s just a short, sweet, and surprisingly satisfying romance 💘

[Betty Loves Books Galore · Rating 5 out of 5]

story of Miller and Brody

This is best friends to more romance, featuring Miller and Brody, and is standalone novella.

Miller has been in love with bus best friend for years but Brody is obvious until one weekend Brody drags Miller to Las Vegas for a holiday that he won but the catch, they have to pretend they are married.

Forced to share a bed and share a kiss and BAM, Brody’s eyes are wide open to what he was missing this whole time. He was in love with his best friend.

This was a sweet, no angst novella and they even got their HEA. YAY!!!!

Things to expect in this MM romance are:
Standalone novella
Best friends to more
Fake marriage
Las Vegas trip
Close proximity/One bed
Bi-awakening
All in
HEA

[Maggie May · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gay For You freak out + very tired ‘what if it ruins our friendship,’ with a side of equally tired ‘been in love with my straight best friend for years’. It’s not a bad short story and a reader who has never read the trope would probably enjoy it. But it adds exactly nothing to that played-out storyline. The characters are nothing but their role (straight guy having a freak out, gay guy pining), there is nothing more to them. I know a trope is a trope but you have to find ways to twist it or build on it or do it better in some way, otherwise, what’s the point. If you read mm romance, you have read this trope done better.

Oh, and the steamy bit was lackluster.

[Harrison Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good for a short story (or novelette or whatever you want to call it). Walker's surefooted writing elevates what could be a trite story into something quite believable, with a lot of story packed in. And the hilarious scene with the pool party makes me wonder if she's a reincarnated gay man (or at least if she's got a phone a gay friend on speed dial). Excellent quick read - I'd definitely love to see more with these characters, such as where do they go from here?

[Brie_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this little novella about two best friends who pretend to be newlyweds in Vegas when Brody enters them into a contest but Miller doesn’t want to play pretend. Miller’s been in love with his best friend since forever and he doesn’t want to pretend but when he’s forced to for sake of the contest things begin to change.

Reasons I Recommend:

1) One kiss makes Brody question things

2) Miller and Brody have a weekend they didn’t expect to have and

3) A really sweet and adorable story about best friends to lovers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#briereads #brierecommends #2024goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #mmromance #nrwalker #nothinglefttolose @nrwalkerauthor