I had a couple of the early Beretta Tomcats, and gave them up as a bad effort -- lots of mechanical problems. Those seem to have been resolved over the years.
Personally, I'd be carrying the Kel-Tec P-32 (or the similar P3AT which shoots .380, and which I recently bought), as I found the Tomcat to be unusually bulky and awkward to carry in anything but a belt/slide holster. The P-32/P3AT is much easier to conceal, and a lot lighter. And just as accurate.
But, that said, if the Tomcat durability issues are resolved, I suspect your wife would find the Tomcat a more enjoyable gun to shoot. And if you can find a 'smith to do a trigger job, get that, too. (It took thousands of dry-fires WITH SNAP CAPS! to get mine smoothed out.)
Firing pins will break easily in a Tomcat if dry-fired, so be careful. I broke several, even WITH snap caps -- it goes through snap caps rapidly.