I finally finished this book a couple of weeks ago (see my Book Challenge review for a v. brief summary)and found it to be very well researched by someone who obviously knows her stuff when it comes to feminist fiction and the place of Romantic fiction within it (and also M&B). It was written from an historical point of view, looking at how M&B fiction had changed over the decades to reflect the changing demands of the readership, the publishers and also changing social circumstances for women.
jay Dixon's book was very positive about the place of M&B and how the heroine brings about change for the good in the hero and, to quote from her conclusion, "both feminist philosophy and romantic ideology demand a change in the way sexual, emotional, economic and working relationships between men and womenare conducted. They both have a Utopian vison of a society which puts women's desires first, where men adapt themselves to women's needs,and not vice versa, and where there is no perceived difference betweenthestatus and social positionof menand women."
As a feminist and a romantic 
I couldn't agree more.
Caro
twitter: pavilionofwomen
