Okay... so here's my advice for her.
1) Forget about buying a dual purpose gun for now, unless she's already 100% SOLD on the idea of carrying a concealed weapon,
OR you have a budget that absolutely would not allow you to purchase a dedicated gun for carry six months from now. As long as she is simply learning to shoot, and thinking "maybe down the road I'll CCW..." then you should concentrate on the learn-to-shoot mission first. The ideal characteristics for a learn to shoot handgun are quite different and even antithetical to the ideal characteristics for a carry gun.
2) Visit
www.corneredcat.com/FirstGun/tryongun.aspx for a quick visual lesson about how to check handgun fit. That's information she'll need when she makes her final decision.
3) Have her try out different TYPES of firearms. Not just "semi-auto versus revolver" (you've already got that part done), but striker-fired versus single action versus DA/SA. Each action type has very different trigger pull characteristics unique to that type. Encourage her to try several of each type to narrow down the type she might prefer -- and to do that before trying to narrow it down to a specific model of firearm. Focus her attention on the trigger pull characteristics and the different controls unique to each type as she shops.
4) Tell her not to allow herself to take shortcuts. If the firearm is DA/SA, encourage her to fire the first shot in DA mode every single time, and SA mode only for the second or subsequent shots -- and she should decock or safe the gun when she comes off target. If it's a single action with a thumb safety, have her use put the safety back on
every time the sights come off the target. Whatever switches or levers are on the firearm, she'll get her best idea of the utility & enjoyability of the firearm if she uses these controls as they are intended to be used while she is shopping.
5) If at all possible, don't pick a firearm in the gun shop. Pick it on the range and then purchase it in the shop. There are a lot of firearms that are very pleasant to handle in the shop that are very annoying on the range -- and vice versa. Since she wants a gun to shoot, she should narrow her selection by taking guns out to shoot.
6) As a general rule, she should be aware that heavier firearms are more pleasant to shoot and somewhat more manageable for new shooters. She'll figure that out on the range on her own, provided you both put enough rounds downrange to give the firearm a true workout (hint: don't just limit each test firing to five shots. Give it a
real workout to see where the hitching spots might be).
pax