Book #2 - stand alone?

I'm plotting book #2 and have a question:

In book #1 the villain tried to kill the MCs but obviously did not succeed. Now in the second book the villain is going to try again. Does this make book #2 less of a stand-alone? I'll explain what happened in book one, of course, so in that sense it will definitely be stand-alone. But I'm just wondering since the villain carries over from book #1, and also because book #2 basically picks up where 1 left off (although the ending wrapped up neatly and didn't cliff-hang).

~ madison, new at writing sequels...

I was actually think about that as I was posting... but posted anyways. okay you're right . just my being paranoid.

Well, good - my MCs triumph leads directly into book #2. And (at least now, while I'm outlining) the story is going in an overall upward direction. I guess it was mostly the sequel's picking up almost right after book #1 that had me worried - but I think I can still manage to make #2 a standalone.