Caution: Even in third person limited viewpoint, if you find yourself using italics for exact thoughts very often (where very often is really a matter of opinion, but I'm sure there are extremes most can agree on) then one of two things may be true:1. You are in such deep point of view, using direct character thoughts so often and as such a regular part of the narrative that you may as well drop the italics. They denote something special and the direct thoughts simply aren't special anymore.
2. You are using too many direct character thoughts for the story you are telling and you may want to back off a bit. Keep in mind that there are many ways of showing what a character is thinking. Here are just a few:
Oh crap. Here come the evil robot monkeys.
Oh crap, she thought as the evil robot monkeys bore down upon her.
She cursed silently as she watched the evil robot monkeys bearing down upon her.
Jane watched as the tall, dark, and handsome stranger entered the bar. What a hunk.
What a hunk, Jane thought as the tall, dark, and handsome stranger entered the bar.
Jane kept her eyes glued to the tall, dark, and handsome stranger as he entered the bar. (Really, in this case who needs the subvocalized thought? I'm pretty sure we all figured that out.)
Or...
The tall, dark, and handsome stranger entered the bar. What a hunk. (No italics at all. If this is very deep point of view and you're constantly in Jane's thoughts, we'll know she is thinking this. If you're in a lighter penetration, we may still understand that she's thinking this, or take it as a truism.)
[This message has been edited by Christine (edited September 19, 2005).]