Two years ago I built up a new bike, did not use brifters but use road levers that have the same cable pull. Since I was mixing road levers with long arm V brakes, I used a travel agent instead of a brake noodle. And I used Koolstop Salmon pads. (The pads DJB suggested.) Very good braking. You mention an aversion to making a big change in hardware, but if you bought a set of V brakes, Salmon Koolstop pads, and a travel agent, that is a low cost outlay to try it. You could do one wheel at a time to see if you think that it was worth doing. I attached a photo. The photo is a bit busy because I also have a headlamp mounted on the fork crown, but you can see the important parts.
I have two different bikes with long arm V brakes with travel agents. And my folding bike uses short arm V brake levers that do not have a travel agent, I have to be careful on that bike to avoid pulling on brakes to hard, that bike also uses road levers. Regarding brake arm length, this link has a short list that you can refer to if you have to have the right length to clear fenders, etc:
https://www.gravelbike.com/v-brake-arm-lengths/
But I think you should just try the Koolstop Salmon pads first before any othe rchanges.
Travel agent is one of these:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/travel-agent-installation-and-adjustment
