diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 3616585..7cdf6bc 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -16,4 +16,6 @@
     class Config:
         env_file = ".env"
 
-settings = Settings()
+def get_settings():
+    """Return a Settings instance (lazy, creates on first call)."""
+    return Settings()
diff --git a/app/crud.py b/app/crud.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31d7b45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/crud.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+from app.models import Contact
+from app.schemas import ContactCreate
+
+async def create_contact(db, contact_data: ContactCreate) -> Contact:
+    contact = Contact(**contact_data.dict())
+    db.add(contact)
+    await db.commit()
+    await db.refresh(contact)
+    return contact
diff --git a/app/schemas.py b/app/schemas.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bdebeef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/schemas.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from pydantic import BaseModel, EmailStr, Field, field_validator
+
+class ContactCreate(BaseModel):
+    name: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=255)
+    email: EmailStr
+    subject: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=255)
+    message: str = Field(..., min_length=1)
+
+    @field_validator('name', 'subject', 'message')
+    @classmethod
+    def strip_whitespace(cls, v):
+        return v.strip() if isinstance(v, str) else v
+
+class ContactResponse(BaseModel):
+    success: bool
+    message: str
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 954eef8..0ee2bf7 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@
 aiomysql==0.2.0
 pydantic==2.5.0
 pydantic-settings==2.1.0
+email-validator==2.1.0
 aiosmtplib==3.0.1
 httpx==0.25.1
 pytest==7.4.3
 pytest-asyncio==0.21.1
+pytest-mock==3.12.0
 python-dotenv==1.0.0
diff --git a/tests/test_crud.py b/tests/test_crud.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a32280d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_crud.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import pytest
+from app.crud import create_contact
+from app.models import Contact
+from app.schemas import ContactCreate
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_create_contact():
+    # Mock DB session
+    mock_session = AsyncMock()
+    mock_contact = Contact(
+        id=1,
+        name="Test",
+        email="test@example.com",
+        subject="Test",
+        message="Hello",
+        submitted_at=None
+    )
+    mock_session.add = AsyncMock()
+    mock_session.commit = AsyncMock()
+    mock_session.refresh = AsyncMock()
+
+    contact_data = ContactCreate(name="Test", email="test@example.com", subject="Test", message="Hello")
+    result = await create_contact(mock_session, contact_data)
+    mock_session.add.assert_called_once()
+    mock_session.commit.assert_called_once()
diff --git a/tests/test_schemas.py b/tests/test_schemas.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e8a43a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_schemas.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+from app.schemas import ContactCreate
+
+def test_contact_create_valid():
+    data = {
+        "name": "Jean Dupont",
+        "email": "jean@example.com",
+        "subject": "Test",
+        "message": "Hello"
+    }
+    contact = ContactCreate(**data)
+    assert contact.name == "Jean Dupont"
+    assert contact.email == "jean@example.com"
+
+def test_contact_create_invalid_email():
+    data = {
+        "name": "Test",
+        "email": "not-an-email",
+        "subject": "Test",
+        "message": "Hello"
+    }
+    try:
+        ContactCreate(**data)
+        assert False, "Should raise validation error"
+    except Exception as e:
+        assert "email" in str(e).lower()