RED COLLAR'S SCARLET CINDERELLA

Warning: Contains Spoilers to Red Collar

Source: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:
Cinderella-cinderella.jpg

Cinderella has been one of my all time favorite childhood fairy tales. Perhaps, it was the dream of being swept off the feet by a prince or the possibility of a poor damsel finally achieving her victory that attracted me to the tale. Sometimes, I do think it was the secret wish of having a fairy godmother just like Cinderella's. Whichever is the case, Cinderella continues to woo many small girls because of its charm and magic.

Kate Ripley of Red Collar  is a Cinderella of a very tainted sort. She is not just poor but she is also riddled with the burdens of her poverty stricken family. So when she loses her job because she won't succumb to the advances of her horny boss and is at her last straws on finding another, she finally agrees to become a sexual escort.

And thus begins her adventure with the mysterious CEO, Clayton Reid.

1. Why did Kate become an escort when she refused the sexual advances of her boss? This doesn't make sense!

Source: www.quotehd.com/quotes/catherine-deneuve-catherine-
deneuve-prostitution-happens-to-you-because-of-troubles

When Kate is made redundant, she thought it was only a matter of time before she would find another employment. She would never have guessed that she was going to drag her resume on for the long haul. She probably would have persevered in her job hunt. However with the sudden responsibility she had to take on as the sole breadwinner for her family caused her to panic. In addition, her mother's dire need for medication pushed her into the escort business. 

This is not an original premise. In fact, one has to only scour the internet to find women who have been forced into prostitution because of their desperate financial needs.

According to http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/2012/04/11/prostitution/ "women are in legal prostitution for the same reason they are in illegal prostitution, a lack of alternative survival options. Most women in prostitution did not make a choice to enter prostitution from among a range of other options. They did not decide they want to be prostitutes instead of doctors, engineers, lawyers, pilots. Instead their 'options' were more in the realm of how to get enough money to feed themselves and their children... Most women end up there only because other options are not available."

It further quotes researchers on saying that "When prostituted women are asked, consistently around 90% say they want out of prostitution immediately, but the decision is out of their hands and in the hands of their pimps, their husbands, their addictions, their children's bellies...If they are because they cannot leave, then prostitution is not a freely made choice."

And that is exactly what Kate plans when she accepts Clayton's offer of mistress and secretary. She is buying time during which she honestly believes she can find another respectable employment. As a result, she sacrifices her dignity for the sake of her family.

2. Clayton's offer to hire Kate as his mistress makes him a jerk.

You know, it probably does. But keep in mind, Clayton never did expect to fall in love with Kate. 

Like Clayton, there are numerous incidences of employers having office affairs. What makes Clayton different is that he doesn't want to be tangled in the emotions that could arise from such a liaison. He likes his relations cleanly cut and diced.

Image Source: http://izquotes.com/quote/216410

The reader does come to know towards the end of the novel that Clayton had first set his eyes on Kate in Madame Madge's parlor. He was introduced to Madame Madge by Bob Whitton who presumably had been soliciting her services. When Madame Madge offers Clayton her services, he declines. This evidently proves that Clayton is not in the habit of hiring escorts. 

But when he does spot Kate in Madame Madge's massage parlor, he is attracted to her. And when he does inquire about her, he discovers that she used to work as a secretary. This fact affects him, seeing that she is resorting to the business of escorting out of her desperation for finance. Knowing that he is in lack of a good partner during his social meetings and the want to have a secretary who would understand her boundaries without entangling herself emotionally with him, he feels that they would serve each other's needs. His honorable intentions to save her from the abusive business of sex prostitution is however somehow marred in his sudden possessiveness to keep her with him forever.

3. How could Kate fall in love with the very man who contracted her services?

Source: www.16quotes.com/the-more-you-get-to-know-a
-person-the-more-attractive-they-become/

Some readers may claim there isn't one redeemable quality about Clayton that could have caused Kate to have fallen in love with him.

But how do people fall in love? Time.com lists a variety of factors that contribute to why people fall in love in http://time.com/2918758/how-to-make-someone-fall-in-love-with-you/

Regardless of how Kate initially feels about Clayton, his physical attributes and his success attracts her. And these constitutes her first steps to loving Clayton.

Kate has struggled to achieve what she's got in her life. And when she discovers that Clayton has worked equally as hard, she is fascinated by him. And finally when she meets his perfect loving family, this somewhat seals her affection for him as she secretly begins to wish to have a part of that happiness. Something which she had never quite received in her own gloomy childhood.

In addition, Kate associates sex with love, proven by the seriousness of her past relationships. And although she first refuses to believe that she is in love with Clayton, the more she spends time with him, she inevitably can no longer sever her emotions from the sex. On the whole, the time she spends with Clayton still plays a crucial role in why she falls in love with him- and vice versa.

4. Kate and Clayton and their misunderstandings

Yep, there are misunderstandings abound. And here's why.

Image Source: http://www.long-distance-lover.com/10-worst-long-distance-relationship-problems-solved-advice-for-men/

Kate and Clayton come from completely contrasting social backgrounds. Their behavioral principles differ. Their perspective on life is different. What did bind them together were their core values and their passion for each other. But these were not enough to make them trust each other completely from the very onset. Especially when one has contracted the other for his own needs, and the other despises him for having hired her.

But as they slowly came to know one another, both intimately and emotionally, they did begin to contemplate the idea of remaining in the facade of a proper relationship.

5. The big one! What the f*** does Red Collar even mean?

Nothing, if you're searching for a literal meaning.

The Red Lights of Prostitution
Red Light District- Amsterdam
Image Source: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8501/8312834904_aa50352f38_c.jpg

The color red, though has long been associated with sexuality, eroticism and immorality and thus significantly became a color of prostitution. History states that prostitutes in some cities were required to wear red in order to announce their profession, or display a red light indicating it a house of prostitution. And thus arose terms such as 'Red Light District', which is still found today in cities such as Bangkok and Amsterdam.

For Kate, her contract with Clayton Reid was just a job- a scarlet and tainted one. And for this reason, I coined the term 'red collar'.


Kate was fortunate that the first man who contracted her fell in love with her. However, this is only a tale. A fairy tale even. There are real women caught in the circle of sexual abuse and slavery. Hopefully, they will also one day find their prince to free them from their chains of enslavement.

RED COLLAR is available at all Amazon Stores

Untamed Hearts- Series 1 (Red Collar): Chapter 1

Untamed Hearts is a spin-off series from the novel, Red Collar and follows the romance between Lorenzo and Libby. Series 1 focuses on their budding love.


Libby watched Kate brooding in the corner of their balcony. She noticed that her older sister rarely left the house since she had returned from Sitka. She didn't understand what was wrong except that something had changed in the course of her one week trip.

"Libby, can I have a drink of cordial juice, please?" Lily tugged at her pants.

Libby, reluctantly, turned away and looked down at her six year old sister. "Which one would you like? Raspberry or lime?"

"Raspberry."

"Yeah?" Libby smiled. "And why is that?" she asked, even though she knew exactly what her answer would be.

"Because it's red. And my favorite color is red and pink and purple."

"Mine too," she said, as she mixed her drink.

"What's wrong with Kate, Libby? Is she dying?" Her eyes peered over at Libby, filled with a depth of concern not suited to a child of her age.

Libby's heart lurched. Lily had endurably watched her mother die slowly from liver cirrhosis. She had never known her mother other than the invalid who occupied her time between the bathroom and the bed. The only mother she could relate to was Kate. It wasn't surprising to Libby that anyone who looked as solemn as Kate did now, could only mean she was ill and about to die to Lily. It was all Lily had known. It certainly wasn't surprising and it definitely was sad.

But Libby had also known no different. Lily, at least, hadn't witnessed the drunk mother she had experienced, in addition to the several different men that used to frequent their apartment. Their home would be teeming with emptied bottles of alcohol, boxes of squashed, empty beer cans and stunk of cigarette odor. It used to be a relentless task emptying the garbage three floors down the building. She used to be so ashamed of her drunk mother though, she would wear a balaclava over her head as she would empty the evidence of her mother's addiction in the garbage bins of the neighboring building.

It was no wonder then, she was so jealous of Kate. Kate had it all. She had seen the wonderful mother their mother could have been and she had a father who had loved her. Libby, like the rest of her half-siblings, didn't know which of the men their mother brought home, could have been their father.

She leaned forward on her elbows, watching the little girl seated across the table. "She's not dying, Lily. Everyone who is sad or sick doesn't necessarily mean that they're dying. I think she's... just tired. She's had a long trip to Alaska. And Alaska is pretty far away from New York."

"How far?"

"Very far."

"As far as the moon?"

"No, but it is far," Libby rolled her eyes. "Now, if you've finished your drink, maybe we can ask Kate how far it really is. But not now," she added, quickly, before Lily could ask her when. "Once Kate is feeling a little better, okay?"

Lily downed her drink speedily when she heard the television blare one of her favorite series' theme. She shot out of the kitchen, leaving Libby alone once more to worry about Kate.

It was true she hadn't gotten on with Kate and she had deliberately tried to vex her on numerous occasions. But that largely was due to her jealousy. She wanted her picky, bossy older half-sister back so she could return to her sixteen year old self she had begun to love playing. Since Kate had taken over the household responsibilities three months ago, she never had felt so light and burden-free. No longer did she have to slave after her drunk, slobbery mother, or endure the task of ensuring that there was a meal in the house for her three siblings. She didn't have to worry about the little matters of pickings and dropping-offs of Lily and Johnny to and from school and she never would have to be concerned about how much money their mother had left in her wallet to pay for the bills and their shopping. But she was darned if she would say it out aloud.

She slid open the door to the balcony. "Kate, is there something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?" she muttered.

Her concern should have surprised Kate because she never once had shown she cared for her sister. But Kate didn't move at all. She sat with her knees folded up to her chest and her hair strewn wildly about her.

"Kate, what's going on?" she asked, again. "You've been in such a depressive state since you've returned from Sitka. Did something happen?"

Kate wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Leave me alone."

"Kate...," she started again.

"Leave me alone! Go away! Let me be!!"