I just had the Specialized women's handlebars installed on my bike last week. I'm still getting used to the different setup so I can't tell you if I'm completely happy with it yet but the reach to the hoods and the drops is shorter and I'm getting more of my hand on the levers from the hoods.

I really liked the Shimano short reach STI levers but I'm not willing to spend the $180 to upgrade the levers ( I currently have Tiagra levers).

If there's a LBS near you that sells Specialized, I suggest trying out one of their WSD bikes (Allez Dolce or Allez Vita(?)) which have both the women's handlebars and the short reach STI levers on them. My LBS built up a Dolce for me so I could test out the handlebar/lever setup before I ordered the handlebars.