Welcome the cycling!
It's important to realize that it's not just about the shorts, but is very dependent upon the chamois/ saddle combination. A chamois which is blissful on one saddle may be excruciating on another.
One thing I've done is kept a look out for women using the same saddle as me; whenever I see a woman with a Terry Damselfly, sure enough, I'll ask her how she likes the shorts she's wearing. I've found some pretty good recommendations that way.
That said, I have a blog that has a section on the basics of bike shorts. It also has a few of my chamois favorites:
aidslifecycle.org/1713

Hope this helps, Kallisti