var user = _users.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Username == username && x.Password == password);

            // return null if user not found
            if (user == null)
                return null;

            // authentication successful so generate jwt token
            var tokenHandler = new JwtSecurityTokenHandler();
            var key = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(_appSettings.Secret);
            var tokenDescriptor = new SecurityTokenDescriptor
            {
                Subject = new ClaimsIdentity(new Claim[]
                {
                    new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, user.Id.ToString()),
                    new Claim("LastName", user.FirstName),
                }),
                Expires = DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(7),
                SigningCredentials = new SigningCredentials(new SymmetricSecurityKey(key), SecurityAlgorithms.HmacSha256Signature)
            };
            var token = tokenHandler.CreateToken(tokenDescriptor);
            user.Token = tokenHandler.WriteToken(token);

            // remove password before returning
            user.Password = null;

            return user;