[Review, Romantic-Comedy] Only One Coffin by A.J. Truman (Truman Books, 2022)

Fun and cheesy this classic romantic comedy vampire twist hits the nail on coffin with its loveable protagonist duo.

May 07, 2025

Only One Coffin by A.J. Truman (Truman Books, 2022)

Information

Genre: Romantic-Comedy

Demographic: Adult (General Audiences)

Length: 180 Pages

Content Advisory: This work contains mature themes including explicit sexual content and minor violence, et al.

Representation: Achillean main characters, Bisexual Main Characters

Links: Goodreads, Storygraph

Review

Fun and cheesy, Only One Coffin is a classic romantic comedy of grumpy x sunshine and one bed trope. Following the vampire Magnus on his yearly vacation to Iceland, where he plans to spend his time doing stereotypical vampire things - hanging out in the dark solo and mourning the loss of his love, Gunnar, at the hands of vampire slayers three years ago. However, due to a mix-up with the booking system, he ends up rooming with the newly turned Kilroy, a sunshine of a man obsessed with surfing.

The heart of this story is the classic romantic trope of grumpy x sunshine. Magnus, who has retreated from life due to his age and the death of Gunnar, is learning to come out of the dark cave he has emotionally retreated into due to his relationship with the younger and lively Kilroy. It’s the classic pairing of a stiff, formal gentleman with the young hip youth, and they play off each other so well.

Kilroy, while the stereotypical surfer dude, also has this almost ADHD quality to him, spouting off anything that comes to his mind, even in inappropriate situations. But it also reveals a man who is naturally curious about the world and just excited to learn about being a vampire, soaking in Magnus’ wisdom. They’re pairing ultimately works because they gain from each other. Magnus learning to revel in the light of life, and Kilroy learning to embrace the dark reality of being a vampire.

The book itself is short, so their relationship moves at a breakneck pace, but it doesn’t skimp on giving them sweet moments of bonding. There is a bit of clumsiness to their relationship as they both think the other isn’t interested in them at first, but when they both acknowledge their feelings, they’re equally tender and heated. I especially liked it about midway through as Magnus was coming out of his shell, arranging a special movie date with Kilroy to see a surfing documentary - an activity he sorely missed due to his vampiric state.

My only gripes about this book come from two aspects. Self-Lubricating vampires and the Bi-representation. Vampires are apparently “naturally lubricated” due to the blood diet. I’ve read and put up with some bad MM fiction in my lifetime, but even I was taken out of the scene by this element. I’d rather authors who don’t want to write about prep just don’t than try to justify it with “self-lubrication” in an otherwise realistic depiction of sex - vampire nature excluded.

I also feel that the Bi-representation can be a bit iffy in some places. Both Magnus and Kilroy are Bi - due to vampires not caring about the social norms of the human world. But often I felt like rather than a meaningful exploration of that aspect of vampire society it was written as a justification for characters to be horny all the time. Kilroy himself says that in life he only preferred “chicks”, but as soon as he was turned - and attracted to Magnus - it was like a switch was flipped in his head, making all his past experiences as a human not matter. It is believable that Magnus, a vampire hundreds, if not thousands, of years old, had let go of his human social and sexual prejudices, but Kilroy, who's only three months old as a vampire? It’s especially unbelievable when a core aspect of Kilroy’s character is letting go of his human life, though his easy-going nature means he takes much in his stride, he still struggles to accept his new vampire life. A more serious work might have explored this aspect of sexuality and vampirism more and related Kilroy’s struggles with letting go of his humanity to letting go of his sexuality, but bisexual was just written as everyone is bisexual, thus easy lays.

I wasn’t sure what my sexual orientation was as a human, but as a vampire, I was fully bisexual. Becoming unshackled from the social norms of human society allowed vampires the freedom to experience pleasure with whomever we wanted. While I didn’t remember my own sexual awakening, other vampires confirmed the shift, saying it was like a weight lifted off them. As a result, most vampires were easy lays. We had all the time in the world; we might as well have fun with it.
Only One Coffin by A.J. Truman; Chapter 5 Magnus

There is something about the way Bisexuality is written in this work that just leans too heavily into the promiscuous bi-trope rather than a meaningful exploration of an adult discovering their sexuality later in life by being embraced by a society that is not bound by the same rules regarding sexuality. And while overall I enjoyed the work these two aspects did detract from my experience.

Ultimately, I'm glad I picked up Only One Coffin by A.J. Truman after the disappointment that was The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards. It was exactly the right amount of humour and cheesy I needed to not fall into a reading slump.

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