I second that. That's what my wife carries.

I agree with Ralph the Rifleman. this handgun would be a good choice for you a great all around gun.

Ditto Ralph on revolvers. I have a Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Special for concealed carry and defense of home and hearth that I like a lot, so you might consider one of Charter's .357's, flexible in that you can feed it .38's or full house .357 fodder. I don't think autos are too good an idea for beginners or those without too much hand strength. Good shooting!

Springfield Armory makes a GREAT semi-auto in .40 cal that is light(weight/recoil) and is what my wife carrys.
Said my .45 Kimber Pro Carry was "to big".

The fact that you have already been shooting 22's up to .45's you have already covered the lightest to the big boy of carry guns. The thing that I tell everyone when it comes to handguns is that they require a lot of practice. That being said you need to get something that you can afford to shoot a lot. I switched from the .40S&W to the .45ACP and then to 9mm. I can afford to shoot a lot more 9mm than anything else but a .22. The choice of revolver or auto is up to you and what you like the best. There are +&- for both. I myself would push more toward an auto, the revolver for a couple of reasons, carry guns get dirty with everything, but dust, lint and gun oil is a big killer and revolvers are wide open for dirt and grime, Highcap Magazine vs six shooter, and unlike the earlier posts I believe autos are easier to use and operate.
My wife and I both Law Enforcement use and love Glocks, there are a lot to choose from but there is more Glocks used by Police than any other handgun. There is also a size Glock for everyone, in every caliber you can think of.
Now that is what I carry and advise anyone to carry, with a Kahr a close second.
Caliber is not as important with a handgun as hitting what you’re aiming a lot of times. I know this will ruffle feathers but people can look at the stats. If you were shot in the heart with a 9mm or a 45 you wouldn't know the difference.
TV cop shows and westerns have made it so that most people believe you just shoot everyone once and they just drop dead with a handgun. (of course there are exceptions) The truth is that more people die from wounds from a stabbing than pistol wounds.( Memphis Trauma Center) The handgun just don’t do enough damage.
What a Handgun is, is convenient, and concealable. I think of my handgun as something to fight my way to my rifle and or shotgun. But you can’t strap that to your leg or put it in your purse.
By all means carry a handgun when you’re out , but at home plan on the shotgun.
The most important thing of all is to get good self defense firearm training to learn how to fight with a handgun. Putting a paper plate at 25 yds and shooting at it might help you on a hog hunt, but it’s not really practical self-defense practice. Don’t be one of those people who buy a gun a box of practice ammo and a box of hollow points, and never learn to really use the gun, or handle it safely.
Check out FBI crime statistics they release them for every year.

A lot of your choice will depend on why you carry it. The last ten years of my career my sidearm was a S&W 6906 9mm because it concealed well and gave me lots of firepower. However, high capacity magazines are heavy and I had to keep pulling up my pants. It now lives in my truck. My usual concealed carry gun is a Colt .38. But, a .38 will not impress a bear so when out in the wild I carry a Ruger .44 mag. I have taken grouse with the .44 but a head shot is critical. I also sometimes carry a Colt .22 auto when the bears are snug in their dens and cottontails are out sunning themselves in the snow. Find a range or a friend that will let you test fire several before you commit the big bucks.

It really depends on what you want to do with it. A .22 target pistol can be one of the most entertaining guns there is if you enjoy precision shooting and plinking at a low cost and with little effort. If you are interested in self-defense, you hear good choices above. My niece who is a fenderal agent carries a .40S&W because she really doesn't like the recoil of the bigger calibers, the weight of bigger calibers nor the knockdown power of smaller calibers. If you want to hunt, you may have to put up with higher weight and greater recoil than you would chose for everyday shooting just so you have the bullet energy to knock down big critters. For hunting, I would go as big as you can stand. A .40 is typically better than a .38 and a .44 is typically better than a .40, etc. I used to teach pistol shooting for a college pistol team. I suggest that the 2 most important things to remember for pistol accuracy are: 1) focus your eyes on the front sight... not the target, not the rear sight 2) squeeze the trigger... don't jerk it (it is OK to let your front sight wander a little bit... chances are the pistol will be aimed dead center about half the time and it doesn't wander too far off at worst... you will learn to reduce wander with practice. Watch some of the hot comepetitive shooters on YouTube to see how to hold the pistol. Good luck. PS, watch pistols around kids... they are the most child dangerous tool on the planet... it is SO easy to point them at someone without realizing the short barrel is headed that direction and to kids they look too much like a toy to be considered dangerous.