What's your budget? What are you willing to spend?

If you're looking at sticking to paved trails and riding around town, a hybrid of some description will be fine. I would look for something in the "flat-bar road bike" range, like you have been. Just stay away from suspension. You could probably find cyclocross-type tires that will work if you wanted to do unpaved paths. While a cyclocross bike is a good all-around bike, they are hard to find used, and if you happen to need a small size or truly women-specific geometry, you may be out of luck either way.

Giant is good bang-for-buck, generally. The Trek FX series and the Specialized Vita are also quite popular. Get the one that makes you smile and feels most comfortable.