diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9af1d70..e0b9259 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -64,6 +64,12 @@ If you'd like to bypass SSL verification
 reverse_proxy "http://localhost:8000", verify_ssl: false
 ```
 
+If you'd like to more customize your [HTTP optional hash](https://ruby-doc.org/stdlib-2.4.0/libdoc/net/http/rdoc/Net/HTTP.html#start-method),
+
+```ruby
+reverse_proxy "http://localhost:8000", http_options: {read_timeout: 20, open_timeout: 100}
+```
+
 Use this method to determine what version you're running
 
 ```ruby
@@ -88,4 +94,3 @@ Special thanks to our contributors!
 
 Copyright (c) 2016 James Hu. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for
 further details.
-
diff --git a/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb b/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb
index f60eebd..407c72a 100644
--- a/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb
+++ b/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ module ReverseProxy
     def request(env, options = {}, &block)
       options.reverse_merge!(
         headers:    {},
+        http_options: {},
         path:       nil,
         username:   nil,
         password:   nil,
@@ -82,6 +83,7 @@ module ReverseProxy
       http_options = {}
       http_options[:use_ssl] = (uri.scheme == "https")
       http_options[:verify_mode] = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE if options[:verify_ssl]
+      http_options.merge!(options[:http_options]) if options[:http_options]
 
       # Make the request
       Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, http_options) do |http|