Deadly but likable hero

Here–ta da!–is the reveal of the cover for Writer to Writer, from Think to Ink:


And here’s the new cover for Writing Magic:


On March 23, 2014, Kenzi Anne wrote, So I have a predicament... The villain in my story needs to lose, and I was initially going to have him die. Unfortunately, I need the heroine of my story to be the one to defeat the villain, but I'm not sure how to do that without having my heroine outright kill the villain herself. I feel like she wouldn't be much of a hero since kill...