I see this as two questions, I guess, but maybe I'm reading wrong.

The first question is about which bike. I think you have to ride different bikes around until one really speaks to you. Test several, re-ride. Take the bikes out on the trail for a couple miles.

I know that seems long and drawn out, but the right bike makes riding a joy, and the wrong one makes it torture, so it's worth finding the right one.

The second question was about bike shops. I was able to narrow my choice down to one shop fairly quickly (of the three I went to in my community) because only one really talked to me about what I wanted from a bike and had me try out different ones, making adjustments, explaining things, and so forth. One of the others had WAY more bikes in the shop, but either they weren't interested or they didn't have bikes that could fit me (they had lots of men's bikes, and mountain/commuter bikes, but only one women's road bike).

Right now, it sounds like Bike shop #2 has the bike that fit you best and they took time to have you try a bike that fit well. But maybe I read wrong.

Good luck!