Doc - VZ did an outstanding job on their grip design for the R9. Size wise is excellant, the only differece is a bit of extra girth with palm swells, not too much, but just right. Now the gun does Not feel like a piece of lumber.
As far as looks, that will be up to you. To me, you can't beat going with the Carbon Fiber Black or the G 10 in Black Cherry, Black Gray,or Black Hyena. They all look great in their own right. I have been so pleased with the Carbon Fiber, that is all I put on 3 of my R9's. I'm not interested in the checkered or anything else.
Peruse the VZ threads and you will see various pics to get ideas from.
I have quite a few custom holsters for my R9's, unfortunately none of them are the Recluse, so I have no input there. However, they have proved themselves an excellant sponsor to do business with.